


Parallels

by coralysendria



Category: Earth: Final Conflict
Genre: Gen, Parallel Universes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 18:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 71,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30143730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coralysendria/pseuds/coralysendria
Summary: Another sabotaged shuttle lands Liam in another parallel dimension and he will need all the help he can get to get home again.Set second season before "Second Chances."
Comments: 3
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

The shuttle dropped lightly out of the docking bay, accelerating smoothly away from the Taelon Mothership. The pilot brought the craft around in a wide arc so that the white-swirled, blue planet below dominated the forward view. The young man spared little attention for the spectacular sight, however, other than to quickly orient himself and his craft for the drop to the surface. It was as well that he was a superb pilot, trained by the best, because his mind was far more occupied with how he was going to discharge his many responsibilities, than with his flying.

He was called Major Liam Kincaid, though neither the military rank nor the surname belonged to him; both had been borrowed from another in order to hide him from the Taelons in plain sight. Liam, though -- Liam was his. His name had been not only his first word, but also the only gift his mother had been able to bestow upon him.

His green eyes darkened as he thought of his mother, dead these last weeks. Siobhan Beckett had died because of the duelling parties to whom he owed his allegiances -- killed by the combination of the cyber-viral implant the alien Taelons had placed in her brain and the sabotage that the human Resistance had introduced to that CVI in order to make her forget her only son and the location of the Resistance base where he had been born. He had been warned: should she ever remember either him or the Resistance, her altered CVI would kill her. And so for the little time he had had his mother, he had been forced to interact with her as a colleague only; both Companion Protectors in service to the Taelons.

With a practiced motion, Liam activated the interdimensional drive, sending the shuttle hurtling toward the planet. The journey from the Mothership's lunar orbit to the Washington, D. C. embassy, which had taken the Apollo 11 crew four days while the people of the planet below held their collective breath, would take Liam's Taelon shuttle only minutes.

Liam, not needing his hands on the controls until it was time to drop back out of interdimensional space, rolled his head and rocked his shoulders. He was tired. No, more than tired. Exhausted. Serving as the North American Companion Da'an's Protector by day and a member of the Resistance by night -- and sometimes, both at the same time -- was wearing him down. He had already spent the greater portion of today on the Mothership and he was expected at the Resistance's Washington base this evening. He glanced at his watch to find that he was, in fact, going to be late. He sighed. One more reason for Jonathan Doors, the irascible leader of the Resistance, to dislike him.

Bad enough to have the bad taste to be born part Kimera, the child of an alien race eradicated by the Taelons, then to use his own initiative to replace William Boone, the Liberation's previous spy in the Taelon ranks, thereby making himself indispensable, but to inconvenience Doors as well.... The lecture he was in for would only further keep him from rest.

The interdimensional slipstream slid by, a wash of white over the stars, but Liam barely noticed it. Something had to give. Didn't it? He was only a few months old, for crying out loud, and he was still deeply mourning his lost mother -- and he had no one with whom he could share that sense of loss. No one understood that on the outside, he was an adult with heavy responsibilities, but on the inside, he was a child who had lost the only person who had ever loved him for himself, however briefly she had been allowed to do so. Everyone around him was interested in him only for his usefulness: To Jonathan Doors and the Resistance, a well-placed -- but untrustworthy -- spy. To the Synod, a Companion Protector. To Da'an...well, he knew that Da'an also had plans for him, but he did not yet know what. As for his beloved mother, to the Taelons, Siobhan Beckett had been nothing more than a tool, a sharp sword in their hand. The Resistance saw only the threat of the sword, and had acted immediately to blunt it. 

But Liam knew his mother was so much more than either of those things. Thanks to the memories he had inherited from all of his parents, and the third strand of DNA contributed by his alien father Ha'gel, he knew she loved to sing, and to walk in the misty rains of her homeland. He knew how proud she was to have been chosen to serve as a Companion Protector. He knew her mystical side; her descent from the druids of old. He knew her runes and her connection to the land. While it was enhanced by his Kimera heritage, he had inherited the Sight from his mother. And he, too, felt the same deep call and connection to the earth when he visited Ireland. Which, of course, he could not do too often without people questioning why he felt such obligation to a woman he barely knew.

And, again, thanks to Siobhan's own memories, he knew how attracted she had been to Agent Ronald Sandoval, his boss...and his human father. Another complicated subject, that. Liam had seen the way that Sandoval had looked at his mother when Sandoval had thought himself unobserved. Liam held onto his own memory of that tender, slightly bemused expression to carry him through his own tumultuous relationship with the man. Sandoval was -- 

The shuttle shimmied suddenly, bringing Liam out of his thoughts. He frowned slightly as his hands danced over the holographic interface, but the readings were all normal. He quirked an eyebrow at the interface and shook his head.

"Feeling cantankerous, are we?"

As if in reply, the small ship shuddered, then bucked. The holographic interface was abruptly awash in red: engine failure warnings, life support warnings, and most worrying of all, a warning that the virtual glass that was all that separated him from a frozen death in space was on the verge of failure. Then suddenly, as though something had kicked the craft like a football, it tumbled out of the ID slipstream, and plummeted toward the planet.

As the ship cartwheeled, Liam fought grimly to right it, his hands dancing along the control interface, the motions controlled and precise despite the urgency of the situation. After a few desperate minutes while the planet spun dizzyingly in and out of his view, he was able to stabilize his flight. The craft was still wobbling from side to side like a drunk after a three-day bender, but at least it was upright. Whatever was wrong with it would have to wait to be looked at until the morning, though he would catch hell for not notifying someone of the problem immediately --from Lili, if no one else. Her tutelage and his own experience had taught him to be obsessive about his shuttle, but he didn't have time to worry about it right now. He was very late. He brought the shuttle in to its usual landing space at the embassy, though with considerably less than his normal panache. Fortunately, there was no one around to witness the less than stellar landing. It seemed early for the embassy to be this deserted, but the fewer people he ran into, the better. He'd been planning to grab a couple of things from his desk on his way through, but decided that he'd better just head straight for the church. Doors was going to be angry enough as it was, and Liam, anticipating that, decided that rather than driving from the embassy to the church, it would be smarter to portal over. He could come back for his car later, and maybe even take a look at the shuttle then. He sighed. It didn't look like he'd be getting much sleep tonight.

There was a public portal station only a block from the embassy, and he walked the distance quickly. Unlike the central portal terminal, where one could hop a portal to any destination, these small public stations had a series of preset coordinates within the city only; the traveler chose a station from a menu, and that was where they were deposited. While both Companion agents and the Resistance -- the latter, thanks to him -- could override the system and use the small stations to go anywhere, Liam had no need of those codes tonight, since his destination was within the city. In a brief flash of double-ringed light, he was deposited at another public station nearer to Saint Michael's. As he walked the last few blocks, nodding politely to the few people he passed, he considered the shuttle's behavior. It hadn't shown any signs of mechanical problems prior to the incident. Had there been something in the ID slipstream that caused the problem? Small bits of debris sometimes got pulled into the slipstream and if they strayed far enough away from the craft they had followed, they could be left behind when it exited. Normally such things weren't dangerous, but a large enough piece could cause a hazard. He would review the sensor data and navigational logs tomorrow, he decided.

St. Michael's appeared ahead, the pale Gothic edifice looming out of the night. It was well past sunset now; he was really late. Doors was going to have a litter's worth of kittens. The huge old church building would be intimidating, but the warmly glowing stained glass windows softened its appearance, making it seem welcoming. He wondered how the Liberation had come to choose the caverns and tunnels beneath the church for their base; he should ask Augur sometime if the hacker knew the story. 

The church door closed behind him with its usual quiet thump. The sanctuary was still and nearly silent, redolent of frankincense and candle smoke. The scars caused by the battle between Ha'gel and William Boone on the night of his conception could still be seen on some of the pillars, though the one broken window had long since been replaced. He slipped quietly past the two or three worshippers and down the side stairs. At the bottom, he threw a quick glance over his shoulder before applying his thumb to the DNA scanner to activate the elevator. He could feel the tension building in his shoulders as he descended into Jonathan Doors' domain. He might have been born here, in the cavern beneath Saint Michael's, and he might be a highly-placed and necessary Resistance agent, but as long as the xenophobic Doors was in charge, his presence would only ever be barely tolerated.

The doors opened and he stepped out onto the upper catwalk of the metal-piping and glass-enclosed domain of the Resistance. "Sorry I'm late," he called, "I had some trouble...." His voice trailed off as he realized that everyone below was staring at him, and nearly everyone was pointing a weapon in his direction. "With my shuttle," he finished. "Guys? What's up?"

The crowd below parted as a red-haired woman stepped forward, a hard expression on her face, a skrill bared and glowing on her upraised arm. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" she demanded in a lilting voice that still sounded in Liam's dreams.

He faltered; his eyes widened in shock. "Mother?" he whispered. "But you died...."

Siobhan Beckett's green eyes -- so like his own -- narrowed and the skrill pulsed. The blast lifted Liam off his feet and threw him into darkness.

~*~*~

Siobhan Beckett mounted the stairs, carefully holding her skrill before her in case the intruder was only -- what was the phrase? playing possum? -- but there wasn't so much as the flicker of an eyelash. He was well and truly unconscious. She lowered Kestrel with an absent pat, and stared at the sprawled form at her feet. He was in his late twenties or early thirties, dressed in dark jeans, a dark t-shirt, and a leather jacket. Where the jacket had fallen open, she could see a pulse gun, the standard weapon of those in service to the Companions. Reddish-brown hair, and, she remembered, bright, green eyes. He did bear a passing resemblance to her brother Rory, rest his soul.

"Did he call you 'mother?'" Augur asked from below.

Siobhan shrugged. "I didn't hear what he said," she responded irritably, turning back to face him and the rest of the headquarters. From behind his yellow-rimmed glasses, the technologist gave her an unimpressed look that clearly said he knew she was being untruthful, but did not press the issue.

Doors moved up beside her and prodded the intruder with the toe of his polished leather shoe. Siobhan was surprised to realize that she didn't want Doors anywhere near the young man. "Well done, Lieutenant Beckett," Doors said, gravely, before turning to the rest of the room. "Someone get up here and secure him. We'll question him later." 

A couple of brawny men picked up the intruder and carried him away; he'd be secured in the med lab, Siobhan knew, so that they could check him for a CVI or any other Taelon devices. If she turned her head, she could see activity in the medical enclosure; they were removing the lad's clothes, going through his pockets, making sure he had no obvious tracking devices on him before Dr. Park moved in for her examination. She suppressed a shiver, remembering her own time inside those glass walls. She pushed the thought firmly away before her CVI could pick it up and run with it, fingering the silver rune pendant -- both protective and lucky charm -- at her throat.

Two hours later, the ranking members of the Liberation gathered in the conference area; by that time, their most highly-placed undercover agents -- Boone, Sandoval, and Marquette -- had arrived from the mothership. The intruder's clothing and belongings were piled in the center of the large conference table. Jacket, shirt, jeans, weapon and holster, non-working global, dark leather identification folder.

Siobhan found the small pile somehow distressing; she had used her CVI to replay the memory of the intruder's expression upon seeing her; she was willing to stake her life that his shock and confusion had been unfeigned. Which meant that somehow, this man who reminded her so strongly of her brother, who even now lay unconscious and defenseless in the med lab, clad only in a hospital gown and confined by a stasis field, was also her son.

Which was clearly impossible.

She shook her head irritably, dismissing the unproductive thoughts. She needed to think like a Liberation member, like the soldier she was. He was an intruder in a secure facility; she could not afford to feel sorry for him. She turned her mind resolutely back to the matter at hand.

The identfication folder was causing the most interest among the others. It contained only two things: a slip of paper on which were printed the runes Inguz, Dagaz, and Sowelo in a line, with a fourth, Raido, below them, and an identification card proclaiming the young man to be Major Liam Kincaid, Companion Protector. The photograph showed the intruder. The card had been slipped from the wallet and was currently making the rounds of the table.

William Boone frowned as he stared at the card held in his broad hand. The tall, auburn-haired former police captain would not have looked out of place in the countryside of Siobhan's homeland. "That isn't Liam Kincaid." 

"How do you know?" Ronald Sandoval accepted the card from Boone, examining it himself. He rubbed his fingers across the card's surface. "It doesn't feel like a forgery." Sandoval had also been a law enforcment officer -- an FBI agent -- before being recruited by the Taelons. Technically, he still _was_ an agent, but he reported to Da'an rather than anyone at the Bureau.

"A good forgery wouldn't," Augur, the expert in such things, pointed out. He had positioned himself, probably deliberately, under one of the room's lighting fixtures. The combination of the spotlight and his eye-searing, skintight, fluorescent green-and-blue shirt made it nearly impossible to look at him without squinting. Siobhan had taken one look at that awful shirt and taken the seat next to him so that she didn't have to look directly at him. He took the ID and examined it in turn. "But I think you're right, Sandoval. I think this is the real deal."

He handed the ID card to Siobhan who looked, not at the ID itself, but at the photograph of the owner. The supposed Major Kincaid had not been able to keep a rather smug and cocky expression off his face when the photo was snapped. It reminded her even more strongly of her brother, who had often worn that exact expression when he knew he was getting away with mischief. She was more interested in the scrap of paper with the neatly printed runes. Obviously they meant something important to this Liam Kincaid, or why else would he carry them in a wallet that held only an identification card? The combination of the runes, the resemblance to her brother, and his whispered words upon seeing her made her distinctly uncomfortable. Prescience prickled at the back of her mind, but she didn't need the Sight to know that something was terribly wrong. She passed the ID to Doors who glanced at it and, with a negligent flick of his fingers, tossed it back onto the pile of Kincaid's belongings.

Siobhan did not like Jonathan Doors, the Liberation's billionaire leader. Partly, of course, it was his dislike of her; as a former Companion Protector, she had previously been tasked with hunting Liberation members. She had, in fact, once followed Lili Marquette to the church below which they now sat, convinced -- correctly, as it turned out -- that the captain was a Liberation spy. Obviously, things had changed, but not so long ago for her to have earned Doors' forgiveness. Although Doors was, for the most part, courteous to her, it was primarily because he recognized her value to the Liberation as a source of information on the inner workings of Taelon security, not because he liked her. Now, his face falling into its accustomed grim lines, his attention was on Boone.

"Let's get back to how he's not Liam Kincaid," Doors suggested.

In response, Boone took his wallet out of his pocket, extracting a photo from it. He handed the photo -- of him and another man -- to Doors. "That's Liam Kincaid," he said. "I served with him in the S-I War."

"And where is he now?" Doors handed the photo back.

Boone shrugged, slipping it back into his wallet. "He went MIA not long after that photo was taken. He's presumed dead."

Marquette's dark hair swung around her face as she tilted her head thoughtfully. Siobhan liked Captain Lili Marquette. She and the petite former Marine were much alike; former soldiers in service to the Companions and the Liberation. "Any chance that this is actually your friend? Plastic surgery, maybe?"

"Unlikely," Boone replied. "First, it says he's a Companion Protector, and I think if he was, we would have heard of him. There aren't that many of us, after all. Second, if Kincaid had survived, I'm pretty sure he would have contacted me."

Siobhan sighed. Men. "There's a simpler answer," she said. The others turned expectantly to her. "Liam Kincaids are rather thick upon the ground where I come from. Just because he doesn't look like your friend doesn't mean he's not who he says he is. As far as names go, anyway." Though, given everything she had seen so far, she had her doubts about that.

"Okay," Marquette responded, "so what, he's a fake Companion Protector with a common Irish name who just happened to waltz into Resistance headquarters like he owned the place? How did he even do that? Augur?"

Augur shrugged. "I went through the scanner logs. He used DNA programmed into the system."

Doors' gaze sharpened. "Whose?"

Augur glanced sideways at Siobhan before he spoke, an apology in his eyes, and she _knew_ without even needing the Sight, what he was going to say. "The Kid's."

Suddenly, everyone was looking at her.

"How is that possible?" she asked calmly, drawing on her CVI to slow the thudding of her heart. "Liam's DNA is not registered anywhere, and he has never been outside these walls to shed so much as a single hair for someone else to find."

Augur shrugged. "The sensor logs show that the last entrance -- prior to you three, anyway," he said, gesturing at Boone, Marquette, and Sandoval -- "was Liam's."

"And why," Jonathan Doors said in a dangerously even tone, "was Liam's DNA programmed into the scanner to begin with?"

"In case of an emergency," Augur replied. He met Doors' eyes levelly, something, Siobhan noted that not too many other Liberation members were willing to do. "He's just a kid, Jonathan. He's not going to hurt anything."

Doors was on the verge of making some sharp -- and no doubt nasty, Siobhan thought -- remark, when Dr. Park approached, still wearing her purple lab coat. A slim, motherly woman with short blonde hair, she could be both kindly to a frightened patient and hard as nails in her Liberation sympathies. "I have the lab results," she said, waving a clipboard. She slid into the empty seat near the door.

"Well?" Doors demanded.

Dr. Park shrugged. "He doesn't have a CVI or any other monitoring devices. No CVI means no skrill, which is why he was carrying a gun. Most importantly, though, his DNA is a triple-helix. Two human strands, and one Kimera. His DNA matches our little one exactly. Sandoval, Beckett -- he's your son. He's Liam."

There was a moment of shocked silence. Siobhan, somehow unsurprised by the revelation, met Sandoval's eyes across the table. His face bore no expression; he had long since learned to mask his feelings, but she could see the pulse in his neck jumping before he controlled it with his CVI. 

"He _did_ call you 'Mother'!" Augur exclaimed, clapping his hands together gleefully. "I _thought_ that was what he said."

"How is that possible, Doctor?" Sandoval might have been asking about the weather for all the concern in his voice -- another aspect of his mask, Siobhan knew.

"He could be a clone, I suppose," Dr. Park said thoughtfully, "but it's unlikely. We've been very careful about making sure Liam's DNA is kept under wraps."

"Time travel?" Marquette suggested. "Far-fetched, I grant you, but it's theoretically possible."

"He did look shocked to see Beckett," Augur agreed, looking delighted by the possibility. "Said something about her being dead."

Siobhan shot an irritated look at Augur. "Just what one wants to hear from a visitor from the future -- if that's where he's from," she snapped.

Augur shrugged. "I checked the surveillance tape; he never hesitated. He knew exactly where the scanner was and he expected to get into the elevator."

"We could always just ask him," Boone pointed out.

"You could," Dr. Park said, "if he were awake, which he is not. We sedated him to be sure we could do all the necessary tests before he came around from the skrill blast. I don't expect him to wake up until tomorrow at this point."

"All right," Doors said. "Before then, let's try to figure out how he got here and for what purpose -- and what the Taelons have to do with it."

The meeting broke up, but Doors caught Dr. Park's arm as everyone was walking away. Siobhan saw it and turned away so that it would not appear that she was listening. She might be out of earshot for a normal human, but her CVI allowed her to clearly hear their conversation. Across the chamber, she saw Sandoval hesitate in the entrance to the hallway that led to their shared quarters. She nodded slightly to indicate that he should go ahead; he raised a brow, but disappeared down the corridor.

"Doctor," Doors said, "can you keep him sedated?"

"I can, Jonathan, but why would I?"

"He's a danger to this operation."

"We're all a danger to this operation in one way or another," Dr. Park said, and Siobhan suppressed a smile. "Even you, Jonathan. The stasis field is in place; even if he wakes up -- which, as I said, will not happen before morning -- he's not going anywhere. I will not keep a healthy man in a drug-induced coma just to protect your sensibilities."

"We need him under control until we can decide what to do with him," Doors insisted. "Especially if...." His voice trailed off.

There was a beat of silence, then Dr. Park said, the frosty edge in her voice quite clear, "Jonathan, you had better not be trying to ask me to do what it certainly sounds like you're asking me to do. Not if you want to continue to have a doctor here."

Siobhan's lips thinned. So that was the way of it, eh? Well, she'd be seeing about that.

She moved away, then, walking back to the quarters she shared with Sandoval and their son. Since her impregnation by the Kimera Ha'gel, and the birth of her little Liam, she and the boy had lived here in the Liberation base beneath Saint Michael's Church. She had been out a few times on Liberation business -- once they were certain that Ha'gel's tampering with her CVI's motivational imperative was permanent, anyway -- but the little lad had never been above ground even as far as the church. He was far safer where the Taelons would never find him; these caverns were well-camouflaged and impenetrable to Taelon scans. If they bothered to look, all they would see was solid rock.

When she reached her quarters, Sandoval was already there, waiting. 

"How's Liam?" she asked, taking the mug of tea he held out to her.

"Sound asleep," he replied. He patted the couch next to him. "How are you?"

"I'm well," she responded, taking the seat. She sipped the tea. "Doors tried to ask Dr. Park to keep him in a coma."

To his credit, Sandoval followed her thought. "He'll be all right tonight, my dear. Tomorrow, we'll find out why he's here, and we'll act accordingly." He twirled a strand of her hair around his finger. "It must have been strange for you, seeing him."

She shrugged. "Not really. I had no idea who he was." She thought back again to the poor lad's reaction. "Stranger for him, I think, given his shock at seeing me. Do you suppose he's really from the future?"

Sandoval turned to her and scooted forward on the couch so he could look into her eyes. "I will not let anything happen to you," he said gravely. "You do believe me, right?"

She smiled and nodded. "Of course I do. Though I do not need you, Ronald Sandoval, to protect me. I am quite capable of protecting myself."

Siobhan woke in the middle of the night -- though of course it was sometimes hard to tell the time down here so far below ground. She seemed to hear forlorn weeping, like the cries of a lost child. Frowning, she climbed silently out of bed; Sandoval muttered and rolled over, but did not wake. She padded on bare feet to Liam's room and opened the door. Kestrel obligingly provided a tiny amount of light, just enough that she could see her son curled up in his bed, sound asleep. She smiled and brushed a lock of hair off his forehead. 

He was the light of her days, this little one, for all that she'd had little enough choice in his birth. She watched him for a moment more, until she heard the sound of weeping again. Cocking her head to listen, she realized that it was not a _physical_ sound she was hearing, but a psychic one.

Curious now, she followed the sound, not entirely surprised when it led her to the med lab where the prisoner lay in his drugged sleep. Or perhaps not entirely drugged, she thought, frowning, as she saw the lines of grief on his face and the tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. His head lashed back and forth and he strained against the stasis field holding him in place. "Mother!" he murmured. "No!"

Unable to bear the sight, Siobhan stepped into the med lab and approached his side. Just as she had with little Liam, she brushed his hair back from his face. "Shhh," she whispered. "You're safe. Go to sleep."

At her touch, he calmed, and with a soft sigh, he slipped into a deeper sleep. The grief faded from his face, leaving him looking very young and terribly vulnerable. In repose, she could see the lines of her little boy in the man lying before her. Siobhan closed her eyes, wondering what had happened to cause the nightmare. That he was dreaming about her death, she did not doubt. Anything could have happened, from an accident to a disease to a fatal run-in with Taelon forces. For all that she was no longer a Companion Protector, it was still a dangerous life she led. And there was still the matter of her CVI. At some point, it would fail and kill her. Sandoval's had already failed once, and though Dr. Belman was working on it, it took time to reengineer a CVI's motivational imperative. Until Dr. Belman could produce a spare, there were no CVIs available should hers or Boone's or Sandoval's fail. In such a case, they would die. Her heart ached at the thought of leaving her son. She wondered how old he had been -- and how old he was now.

A slight movement caught her attention; she looked up to see Dr. Park on the other side of the glass. With a last look at the sleeping man, she slipped away from the bed.

"I couldn't sleep," she whispered in explanation. "And he seemed to be having a nightmare."

Dr. Park smiled at her. "I was just coming to check on him myself. Jonathan wants him kept unconscious at least until morning, but I'm guessing that he's going to be sleeping that long, and I don't really want to give him any more drugs."

"Where is Jonathan?"

"Gone," Dr. Park replied. "He's gone home for the night. He'll be back in the morning. You should go on back to bed, Siobhan. There's nothing more you can do for Major Kincaid right now."

"Is that what we're going to call him?" Siobhan asked curiously. It was a good, strong name. She approved of it, though she wasn't certain she approved of her son wearing it.

"It's the name he's going by," the doctor responded with a shrug. "Go on, Siobhan. Go back to that lovely little darling of yours." She grinned. "And that handsome man."

Siobhan allowed her eyes to widen in mock innocence. "Why, Doctor! I have no idea what you might be talking about!"

"Of course not," Dr. Park replied. "Of course not."


	2. Chapter 2

Liam woke feeling as though he'd fallen down several flights of stairs. He ached all over and his head pounded on a rhythm with his heartbeat. He blinked his eyes open -- then immediately squeezed them shut again with a little moan as light stabbed his brain. Why was it so bright?

"Good morning, Major," a familiar voice said. "How are you feeling?"

He squinted his eyes open again, wincing. Melissa Park leaned over him, haloed by the bright lights. "Terrible," he replied. "Why is it so bright in here? What happened?" He started to get up, but found he couldn't move. 

"Careful," Melissa said. "The stasis field is activated." She turned away for a moment and the lights dimmed. "Better?"

"Stasis field?" Liam repeated muzzily. He blinked; the dimmer light setting at least wasn't quite as painful. _Why was it so hard to think?_ "Why?"

"What do you remember?"

Something about Melissa's careful tone of voice set alarm bells ringing somewhere in the depths of Liam's mind. Something was wrong. "Remember? I was coming down from the Mothership and the shuttle acted up." He frowned, trying to pull memories past the pain in his head. "Did I crash the shuttle? Is that why everything hurts?"

"What else do you remember?"

"Nothing, really," Liam said, confused now. He started to get up again, remembered the stasis field, and lay still. He must have really hurt himself if he required a stasis field to keep him from moving. "I don't...." He frowned again. He remembered seeing his mother's face. But that was impossible. "There was a dream...."

She looked down at him, a curious expression on her face. "What did you dream, Major?"

Melissa Park had always been exceptionally kind to him, and she was his doctor, after all, but he found that he didn't want to tell her. "Is it important?"

"Humor me, Major."

He closed his eyes, remembering. "It was.... I dreamed about.... It was my mother," he said at last, miserably. "I dreamed my mother was alive." The tears pricking at the corners of his eyes had nothing to do with the pain in his head or the lights shining down on him. He tried to blink them away. "Melissa, when am I going to stop dreaming about her?"

"Oh, Major," she said softly. "I'm so sorry." She looked up and beyond him. He turned his head, following her gaze, and stared, his sluggish brain not able to parse what he was seeing.

Siobhan Beckett and Ronald Sandoval stood next to one another just inside the door of the glass enclosure he recognized as the med lab. He was _really_ fuzzy, to have not sensed their eyes on him. Sandoval was wearing his usual inscrutable expression, but Beckett was looking thoughtful. Thoughtful, and a little sad. She fingered the rune pendant at her throat, carefully watching his reaction.

He continued to stare for a long moment, struggling against the stasis field, an inchaote jumble of emotions -- shock, fear, longing -- swirling inside him, until he abruptly realized what must have happened. 

His head thumped on the bed as he went suddenly limp in comprehension. "It wasn't a dream." The shock of seeing Beckett and Sandoval had helped; he found himself able to think more clearly. He frowned, remembering the way the shuttle had fought him. He had only ever once had that kind of trouble with a shuttle, and that had been when.... "An alternate dimension?"

And he thumped his head on the bed again, then once more for good measure, gasping at the pain. Definitely not a dream, then. "Not again," he sighed.

He closed his eyes against the light and the sight of his human parents standing there together, almost wishing that he could retreat to unconsciousness. When he opened his eyes again, they were gone.

"You said you were in pain, Major," the doctor said, then, briskly.

"Yes."

"Describe it for me?"

"I feel like I got run over by a truck," Liam replied dully. "Everything hurts. My head is the worst, though." He closed his eyes, wondering what they were going to do with him. Whatever it was, it couldn't be much worse than the way he already felt.

She snorted. "I shouldn't wonder, the way you're banging it there." He heard her bustling around, then the stasis field released him. Liam opened his eyes in surprise, to find the doctor looking at him with a sympathetic expression.

"What's going on?"

"You need to get up and get dressed, Major," Dr. Park replied. "I don't have that many beds and I'm not going to waste one on a man who is -- mostly -- fine."

Liam sat up, slowly, to find that he was wearing only his shorts and a hospital gown. He realized his feet were cold. His head throbbed and he winced. "Mostly?"

"Well, there's nothing wrong with your scans, but you did get shot by a skrill yesterday evening and hit the wall behind you rather hard. I imagine that's why you're in pain. Here." She handed him two largish pills and a glass of water. "Take these, they should help."

He obediently downed the pills and sipped the water. Reassured by her manner -- so like the Dr. Park he knew -- he decided to risk a question. "This...this _is_ Resistance headquarters, right?"

She smiled slightly. "Yes, Major. Well, Liberation, anyway."

"Then...how are they here? They're Companion Protectors."

She nodded. "They are."

"With CVIs."

She nodded again. "Yes."

"I don't understand."

She patted his knee. "It's all right, Major. I'm sure they'll explain it to you." She handed him his neatly-folded clothing. "Go on, get dressed. You seem to know where things are around here; they'll be waiting for you in the conference room."

She turned back to him. "Oh, and Major? It's very early in the morning. No one else is around yet."

She meant Jonathan; Liam nodded his comprehension. "Thank you, Dr. Park."

A brief smile crossed her face. "You're welcome, Major." She left him alone to get dressed.

Even very early in the morning, there was always someone awake in Resistance headquarters. The only time Liam had ever seen the headquarters deserted was the day of his birth, when Doors had ordered an evacuation in case Liam turned out to be some kind of monster. Funny that the monster had been there all along masquerading as Rayna Armitraj -- and he had destroyed the monster before he was even three days old. A technician monitoring communications glanced at him curiously as he walked past, but said nothing. Looking up, he saw that there was a brawny guard stationed near the elevator door. He dipped his chin and the big man nodded solemnly back.

There hadn't been a guard when he arrived last night.

In the conference area, Lieutenant Beckett and Agent Sandoval were seated across from one another, both where they could watch the door. His weapon, ID folder, and global lay between them in the middle of the table. He made no move toward his belongings as he took a seat equidistant from each of the people who, in his own dimension, were his human parents.

"Um, hi," he said, somewhat uncertainly.

"Good morning," Beckett responded.

Sandoval said nothing, merely watched him.

Liam flushed, but he was used to being stared at by Sandoval. Well, _a_ Sandoval, anyway. "Listen, I can explain this."

At that, Sandoval raised an eyebrow. "Can you? I'm sure we're very interested to hear your explanation, Major."

Liam stared at him for a moment; the response was so very _Sandoval_ that it would not have been out of place on the bridge of the Mothership with Zo'or watching in the background. After a moment, Liam huffed a laugh. "Some things certainly don't change."

There followed a moment of uncomfortable silence, then Beckett spoke softly. "You said you could explain, Liam. Please do."

Liam's gaze went to her. He couldn't help himself; he turned toward her voice like an orchid toward sunshine. He could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times he had heard his name spoken in his mother's voice. A long moment passed before he was able to draw on the lessons Lili had instilled in him about caution around his mother and answer her.

"I need to know one thing, first," he said. "Do you know who I am?"

Beckett and Sandoval exchanged a glance, then Sandoval spoke. "We do know who you are." He paused. "Or rather, we know _what_ you are."

Liam frowned at the phrasing. "What? Oh, right. Scans. Dr. Park did scans when I was unconscious."

Beckett nodded. "You understand why we had to take the precaution?" 

"Of course." Liam shrugged. "We would have done the same."

"We?" Sandoval asked.

"My Resistance," Liam said. He sighed. There was little point in not telling them everything -- he was going to need their help. "Look, this is going to sound crazy, but I'm from a different world -- a parallel dimension."

Surprisingly, neither of them reacted to that. Liam wondered what sort of debates had gone on while he lay unconscious in the med lab for them to be so accepting now.

"You said that before, Major," Sandoval said. "What did you mean by that?"

Liam considered what to say. Obviously, this dimension was much more similar to his own than Jason and Maiya's had been, but he was still having problems with both of his parents being in the Resistance. Though apparently, here, they were still calling it the Liberation.

"A while back," he said at last, "someone tried to kill me by planting a bomb on my shuttle. When I activated the ID drive, the bomb went off. The explosion flung me into a different dimension. Last night, when I left the Mothership, I had some trouble while in ID space, and I think it has happened again -- though this dimension isn't as far away from mine as that other one was."

"And how can you tell that?" Beckett asked.

Liam hesitated. "Because you're both here. And because Dr. Park is here. And I think I saw Augur in the crowd last night. And because my DNA activated the elevator. In that other dimension, Augur and I didn't exist -- but you did, Sandoval. Except that you were very different and your name was Jason."

Sandoval blinked at that. "My mother's choice for my name was Jason," he admitted. "But my father preferred Ronald."

"Whereas I am named after Lieutenant Beckett's grandfather," Liam said, hesitating only slightly over what to call his mother.

It was enough, though, to catch her attention. "You called me 'Mother' last night," she said. "And you said I was dead."

Liam winced. "Ah. Yes. My mother died...only a few months after I was born."

"And your father?" Beckett asked.

"Is a loyal Companion Protector," Liam responded steadily, keeping his eyes on Beckett. He could see that she understood, and so, from the way he cleared his throat, did Sandoval.

"You must be hungry, Major," the latter said. "I'm going to go organize some breakfast. I'll be back in a little while."

"Be quick," Beckett said with a smile that Liam recognized as being for Sandoval only. "The others will be here soon."

Sandoval's departure left an uncomfortable silence in its wake. Liam tried not to stare at Beckett, but he so desperately wanted to take in the sight of his mother alive, even if -- as he had to keep reminding himself -- she wasn't _his_ mother.

After a few minutes, she sighed. "This must be very difficult for you, Major. I am sorry."

He nodded. "Yeah. It is, actually. So, uh, you and Sandoval -- are you...together?"

She smiled. "As you can see."

"How did that happen?"

"Were we not together in your world?"

Liam shook his head. "No. You wanted-- that is, Lieutenant Becket wanted to be with him, but she was the protector to the UK Companion and he was Zo'or's protector."

"But they must have been together at least for a while -- you're here."

Liam shook his head. "No. Not really. It was Ha'gel. And then Ha'gel was killed."

Beckett tilted her head. "Ah. Well, in this world, Ha'gel destroyed the motivational imperatives in both of our CVIs, so that we could be free to look after our son."

Liam looked up at that. "He...did?" He considered that. Thought about what it might have been like to have parents who cared for him. He remembered Lili and Augur's kindness to him while he was small, but once he grew up, their attitudes toward him changed. "I wish he'd thought of that in my dimension," he said a little bitterly. While it was good that they treated him like the adult he was, he did sometimes regret not having a proper childhood.

"Who looked after you, then?" Beckett asked.

Liam shrugged. "Lili -- Captain Marquette?" he glanced at Beckett to see if she knew Lili, at her nod, he continued, "and Augur. At least for the few hours that I was a child. I grew up within twenty-four hours of my birth. After that, I had to take care of myself."

He could not interpret the look on Beckett's face at that. Thoughtful, perhaps, with a touch of sorrow. Then she stood and held out her hand. "Come, Major," she said. "Let me show you something."

Liam took her hand, and she tucked her arm through his. They left the conference room, walking back through the main chamber. Liam felt the guard's eyes on his back. From the main part of the complex, Siobhan drew him into side tunnels and from there, through a metal door into yet another underground room which was clearly living quarters. The stone floor was deeply carpeted; a plump couch and chairs took up one corner. Soft, warm light filled the space. A large framed photo of Strandhill stone circle occupied one wall. There were bookcases whose contents Liam would have liked to explore, and fat, white candles scattered everywhere.

"Mama!" a voice cried, and a brown-haired, green-eyed boy came running from another room and flung himself at Beckett, who crouched down to catch him in a hug.

"Hello, my handsome lad! And how are we this morning?"

"You were gone when I got up this morning, Mama, and so was Papa! Where did you go?"

"We had to go meet a friend, my boy. Come, let me introduce you." She stood up and turned back to the gobsmacked Liam.

"Major Kincaid, this is my son Liam Rory Beckett-Sandoval."

Liam stared down at the boy for just an instant, then he, too, crouched down. "Hi, there. My name is Liam, too."

The boy, suddenly shy, stared frankly at the adult Liam, who returned his scrutiny just as frankly. He appeared to be about five years old, dressed in dinosaur-patterned pajamas, and carrying a brown teddy bear with bright black eyes.

Liam swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. This boy -- his counterpart in this dimension -- was so obviously loved and well-looked-after. He had his parents. Liam blinked back sudden tears and looked away, right into the compassionate gaze of the boy's mother. He straightened.

"I thought you might need to see that somewhere, somehow, you have been loved," she said softly.

"Inguz," Liam said hoarsely, "rune of family."

She smiled gently. "Yes."

The boy Liam looked up at the adults solemnly, then he tugged on Liam's jeans. "Don't be sad, Major Kincaid," he said solemnly, "everything will be all right."

Liam smiled down at the boy. "Do you think so? You seem pretty smart. I think you're probably right."

The boy smiled back. "I am," he said, with a child's sure authority. "You'll see."

Liam had a strong feeling that the boy understood who he was without needing to be told. It was, he thought, the Kimera in them.

"Liam, the major and I have to go do boring grown-up things now," Beckett said. "Your papa has gone to get some breakfast, and then you have lessons later. You should go get dressed now."

"Okay, Mama. Goodbye, Major Kincaid."

"Goodbye, Liam." Liam watched the boy disappear back the way he had come. He sniffed and blinked, dashing away tears. "Thank you, Lieutenant Beckett."

"I'm thinking you had better call me Siobhan." She drew him down beside her on the couch.

Liam smiled, somewhat tremulously, and nodded. "Siobhan. I'm Liam. Liam Beckett-Sandoval. But only when no one else is around."

Siobhan nodded in the direction her son had gone. "The young lad there has the Sight, Liam. You would do well to heed his words."

Liam huffed a laugh. "Like his mother?"

"Aye, you should always heed my words," Siobhan agreed. She sobered. "They're going to be asking you some hard questions this morning, Liam. Are you prepared?"

"Is there any reason why I shouldn't tell the truth?" Liam asked. "I mean, the hardest thing so far has been seeing both you and Sandoval, and finding that you're part of the Resistance."

"What happened to your mother, Liam?" Her voice was soft, gentle, just as he sometimes heard it in his memory.

"Ha'gel didn't remove her motivational imperative," Liam replied. "I was born in Resistance headquarters. Jonathan Doors ordered Dr. Park to erase my mother's memories of me and Ha'gel and the Resistance, and to sabotage her CVI so that it would kill her if she remembered. The whole time I knew my mother I had to treat her like any other Companion Protector. A colleague, nothing more."

There was horror on Siobhan's face at that revelation. "And she remembered?" 

Liam shook his head. "No. Not really. Not until the end. Her CVI broke down completely while she was climbing. She fell, and by the time we found her, it was too late. I...helped her remember as she was dying."

"Good," Siobhan said briskly. "I think I can say with some authority that she would have wanted to remember having such a fine son." She patted Liam's knee. "I'm sorry, lad, but that is the sort of question that they're going to ask you. "It will not be easy."

Liam shrugged. "I have faced far worse than them, Siobhan. I'm a Companion Protector who is also a Resistance spy. People have been trying to kill me since I was two days old. Questions don't frighten me."

"All right, then. Let us go face them down."

They returned to the conference room to find it occupied only by Sandoval and several bags of food. "There you are," he said. "I was just about to go looking for you."

"No need," Siobhan replied. "Though I hope you sent some of that food to your son."

Sandoval nodded. "I sent it in with Miriam; you must have just missed her." He turned to Liam. "I'm sure you're hungry, Major; it has to have been at least twelve hours since your last meal. No need to stand on ceremony."

Liam found that he was famished. "Thanks." Sandoval had brought a variety of breakfast sandwiches and pastries and there was coffee, as well. The three of them ate mostly in silence, but it was not as uncomfortable as Liam had thought it might be. He had gained a measure of peace from learning that his counterpart in this dimension was not only being allowed to be a child, but that he had two of his three parents. Liam wondered idly if there was a dimension out there where he had all three. 

By the time the breakfast had been reduced to crumpled wrappers and crumbs, Liam was feeling a bit better. The painkillers had kicked in and reduced his headache to a far more manageable level and the other aches had been relegated to a background annoyance. 

The first person to arrive that Liam recognized was Captain Lili Marquette. Accompanying her was a tall auburn-haired man whom he knew only from photographs -- Commander William Boone, his predecessor as Da'an's protector. His eyes widened slightly, but he gave no other indication that seeing Boone was in any way unexpected. Both Sandoval and Siobhan had noticed, though; out of the corner of his eye, he saw them exchange a glance. For his part, Boone said nothing, just eyed Liam narrowly as he took a seat. Liam had reclaimed his identification and global, but his weapon and belt remained in the center of the table.

Augur arrived next, wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and running pants; when he unzipped the sweatshirt, a lime-green t-shirt was revealed. "Ah," he said, taking a seat. "Sleeping Beauty wakes."

Liam grinned at him. "Hi, Augur. Good to see you, too."

"So you know me!"

"Of course I do. Hey," and here Liam leaned forward conspiratorially, "do you still have your computer programmed with a Holo-Lili?"

Augur's eyes slid toward Captain Marquette and he shushed Liam. "Ix-nay, ix-nay!"

Marquette's eyes narrowed. "Augur, I thought I told you to get rid of that!"

"Now, Lili, you know I will, I just haven't had a chance yet," Augur protested. "I've been very busy lately."

"Yeah," Marquette muttered. "Right. Busy."

"Doors is here," Boone said quietly, and just like that, Liam felt tension returning in his shoulders, and his headache ratcheted up a notch.

The man strode into the conference room like he owned the place -- which, Liam reflected, he did -- and took the seat left for him at the head of the table. 

"Good morning," he said. "I see our...guest...has awakened. Welcome, Major Kincaid -- if that's your name."

"Thanks, Jonathan," Liam replied, keeping his voice and his gaze level. "It's always a pleasure to see you."

Doors narrowed his eyes, but merely looked around the table and said, "All right, let's get started. Major, perhaps you'd like to explain how you got here?"

"My working theory at the moment -- based on a previous experience -- is that I'm in a parallel dimension from my own," Liam said, ignoring Jonathan's tone, as he always did.

"Not a time traveler?" Augur asked, grinning at Lili, who rolled her eyes.

Liam gave him a sharp look, but it was clear that this Augur had no idea about the time travel portal that Liam had stepped through in his own world, earning himself a trip two days into the future. There he had seen the entire Resistance destroyed -- apparently by himself. He had nearly been driven mad by the thought that he might have killed all of his friends, and he _had_ been driven to make an attempt on his own life in order to prevent it. His Augur had stopped him, but had nearly been killed for his efforts when Liam lost control of his shaqarava.

"No," he said, his fingers curling over his palms. "Not a time traveler. Well, unless the dates don't match up between dimensions."

So, then, of course, they had to check, but after much consulting of watches and calendars, it was determined that the dimensions were roughly in sync.

"Tell us about your shuttle," Lili said.

Liam explained again how he had left the Mothership, how his shuttle had malfunctioned during ID travel, and how he hadn't realized anything was wrong at first because he was more concerned with getting to Resistance headquarters for a meeting.

"I'd planned to pick some things up from my desk on the way, but since I was running late, I just landed the shuttle and headed for the nearest public portal."

"Your desk?" Boone asked. "You have a desk in the embassy? What is your job there?"

Liam took a deep breath. This was going to be difficult. "I'm Da'an's protector."

Boone's eyebrows shot up. "Da'an's protector," he said slowly. He frowned. "And you were surprised to see me."

Liam hadn't thought Boone had noticed. "In my dimension," he said carefully, "I'm your replacement. Both as Da'an's protector and as the Resistance's spy."

Boone paled slightly, but said nothing more. Marquette shot him a look that Liam, as familiar as he was with his Lili, could not quite interpret.

"All right," Doors said, "so you took a portal here. When did you realize that something was wrong?"

"When I saw Lieutenant Beckett," Liam replied promptly. 

"And why was that?" Doors asked.

Liam sighed. "Because in my world, Siobhan Beckett died when her CVI broke down," he said steadily and without looking in Siobhan's direction.

Sandoval and Boone both paled at that, but Siobhan gave no sign that it disturbed her. Liam was glad, then, that they had discussed it earlier.

"I have a question," Augur said then, "and I'm sure I'm not the only one. How is it that you're an adult, but our Liam is still a child?"

Dr. Park shifted in her chair. "I have a theory about that," she said. "We know that in Major Kincaid's dimension, he was effectively orphaned shortly after his birth. Ha'gel was dead and Sandoval and Beckett were inaccessible. I am guessing that his Kimera genetics perceived a threat and decided that he needed to be able to meet it and aged him to his current state." She looked in Liam's direction. "You've been aging normally since then, Major?"

Liam nodded. He'd never really thought of it that way before, but it made sense. 

"So," Augur said, "You're how old, then?"

Liam shrugged. "Not very."

"And you've been working as a Companion Protector and double-agent for the Resistance for how long?" Boone asked, his voice neutral.

"Since I was two days old," Liam answered. "It took my Augur a little while to get my identity set up -- I couldn't very well go to the Embassy and say, 'Oh, hi, Da'an, I'm the son of one of your most ancient enemies, could I have a job guarding your life, please?'"

Augur laughed, and Boone's mouth quirked in the beginning of a smile. "No, I suppose you couldn't."

The questions continued for what seemed like hours. Beyond the glass-walled conference area, the Liberation headquarters began to get busy as people trickled in. Liam answered every question asked of him as truthfully as possible, even those he deemed unnecessary to the situation at hand. He told them how he had come to be a Companion Protector, avoiding Boone's eyes as he did. He told them about Lili teaching him to pilot a shuttle. He told them about his unanticipated trip to Jason and Maiya's dimension, and saw Sandoval's surprise at the idea of being married to someone he had not, in this life, met. He told them about his mother's death. He told them about his Resistance activities and the current state of the Synod. They were very interested in Zo'or's leadership; so he spoke at length about Zo'or's attitudes toward humanity. In this dimension, Quo'on remained Synod leader.

He answered questions until he was hoarse. Through it all, Doors sat at the head of the table and glowered at him. Despite the pain pills Dr. Park had given him, his headache began to get worse and worse, but he did his best to ignore it. He was going to need help getting home and the Liberation was his best shot. He could approach the Taelons -- and would, if he had to -- but he would prefer to work with the Liberation. Eventually the questions slowed as all the important information was conveyed and simple curiosity was assuaged. 

Finally, when the conversation began to repeat itself and no new questions had been asked for several minutes, Liam sighed and glanced discreetly at his watch. He was surprised to see that it wasn't as late as he had thought.

"Look," he said, spreading his hands, as he got everyone's attention, "I just need to retrieve my shuttle, maybe get some help repairing it, and I can get out of your hair and back to my own dimension where I am _very_ late for a meeting."

"Does anyone have any more questions for our guest?" Jonathan asked. After a moment of silence, he continued. "Then if you'll excuse us, Major Kincaid, we need to confer. Perhaps Lieutenant Beckett would keep you company for a while?"

Siobhan nodded. "Delighted to," she said. "Come, Major. Let us go for a walk."

Liam smiled at her. "Love to." He stood, glanced at his weapon lying in the middle of the table, pointedly made no move to retrieve it, and followed Siobhan out of the conference area.

Doors waited until the elevator doors had closed behind Beckett and Kincaid before speaking. "I don't trust him and I don't want him here, but he knows too much, so we also can't just let him wander around. Give me options, people."

Sandoval stirred. "We could turn him over to the Taelons."

Everyone at the table turned to him with varying expressions of shock on their faces. Everyone except Doors, who looked thoughtful.

"Sandoval, he's your son," Boone protested.

Sandoval shrugged. "He's not _my_ son. My son is in his quarters having his breakfast and getting ready for a day of boring schoolwork."

"What would the Taelons do with him?" Doors asked. "Could he be kept from revealing what he knows about us?"

"The Taelons would be thrilled to get their hands on a human-Kimera hybrid," Sandoval replied. "We know that they're trying to make human-Taelon hybrids; I think they might be more interested in _what_ he is than in _who_."

"They'd dissect him," Lili said, horrified.

Sandoval nodded, keeping his face still with an effort. Although not as immediately enchanted by the major as Siobhan had been, when she had told him about the major's nightmare, and when he had observed the major's distress upon awakening, he had understood that it was incumbent upon him to help. Especially since his counterpart -- the major's own father -- was unable or unwilling to do so. And that meant derailing Doors' worst impulses by getting the others quickly invested in the major's continuing health and safety. "I daresay they would, Captain."

"How can you even suggest such a thing?"

Sandoval shrugged again. "As I said, Captain Marquette, he's not my son."

Boone eyed Sandoval suspiciously; Sandoval merely returned an impassive gaze, and then, slowly, winked. He was rewarded by the flicker of acknowledgement that passed across Boone's face when the other man realized what Sandoval was up to.

"I think before we decide on anything, we need to see if we can verify any of his story," Boone, always the voice of reason, said. "It should be easy enough to confirm that he was in the embassy last night; he'll show up on the surveillance logs."

"Not to mention that there will be an extra, slightly damaged shuttle in the dock," Marquette added. Any suspicion that she might have held about the major had clearly been averted just by the thought of voluntarily handing him over to the Taelons.

Sandoval, satisfied that he had successfully headed off the worst of Doors' impulses, sat back and listened with only half his attention while the others made plans to help the major. He didn't trust Doors and never had, even before his motivational imperative had been destroyed. But he knew Doors and understood his motivations far more deeply than the latter suspected. Doors was a prejudiced, xenophobic, self-centered bastard of a man who hadn't organized the Liberation to save the world from the Taelons so much as to drive them off what he saw as his territory. He didn't really care nearly as much for the people he pretended he was saving. 

And Sandoval knew -- _knew_ \-- that if Doors decided it was to his advantage to get rid of Siobhan or Liam or himself, they'd disappear. The best thing that would happen would be that they would be killed outright -- and Doors wouldn't balk at killing a child. The worst would be that anonymous tips would go out to the Taelons and they would be taken to the Mothership. 

Sandoval would kill Doors and everyone in this room before he allowed the Taelons to harm his son. Really, when it came down to it, Ha'gel hadn't destroyed his motivational imperative so much as transferred its object from the Taelons to their mutual son.

He would not allow the Taelons to have Major Kincaid, either, but no one needed to know that.

"What do you think they will decide?" Liam asked as he and Siobhan strolled through the park near the church. It was still early; the misty air had a hint of chill, but the sun was shining behind it and the day would soon clear.

"Truthfully?" she said, "they will argue back and forth. Doors will suggest something horrible--"

"He would," Liam muttered savagely.

Siobhan tilted her head. "You don't like him."

Liam shook his head. "No. And he doesn't like me. He hated me before I was even born. Despite the fact that I have two human parents, the fact that I have that one strand of Kimera DNA means that I will always be an alien to Jonathan Doors. And aliens can't be trusted."

"So you have lived your whole life with that man's animosity. I'm sorry, Liam." She was. She had thought that things were difficult for her and Sandoval and their Liam, but they at least had each other. This poor lad had had to fend for himself.

Liam shrugged. "I'm used to it. I hardly even notice anymore." 

Siobhan didn't call him on the lie. She had observed the tension in Liam's body and how the farther they got away from the church, the more he relaxed. Well, she couldn't say that she blamed him; Doors was not an easy person to be around, and he didn't care one whit if people disliked him.

After a moment, Liam said, "So they'll argue back and forth...."

Siobhan gracefully accepted the change of subject. "They'll argue back and forth, Doors will suggest something horrible, and Boone will step in as the voice of reason. In the end, I daresay we'll be helping you to retrieve and repair your shuttle by day's end."

"That would be good," Liam said.

"Tired of us already, are you?"

"What? No, of course not. I didn't mean that at all, it's just--"

She took pity on him and squeezed his arm. "I'm teasing you, Liam. Just teasing."

They walked in silence for a while. The sun was rapidly burning off the fog, and more people came into the park. Before long, they were surrounded by joggers, and dogwalkers, and business people sitting on benches enjoying cups of coffee before going to work. Siobhan began to get a little apprehensive about being out; news reports still aired occasionally about the missing Companion Protector.

"We should be getting back," she said. She kept her voice steady, light -- no need to alarm Liam. She nevertheless kept a watchful eye on those passing.

"All right," Liam agreed easily. 

They made a wide loop and headed back toward the church. "Listen," Liam said, "I should maybe make a list of things for you to watch out for, things that have happened where I came from and that might happen here. It could help."

Siobhan thought about it for a moment, thought about knowing the future, knowing it more definitely than through her intuition or flashes of the Sight. Thought about the chance of a mistake happening because Liam's list said one thing, but an event turned out differently due to a tiny change of circumstance.

"I think," she said at last, "that we might do better to make our own mistakes. Prophets throughout history have learned how dangerous it can be to have a glimpse of the future."

Next to her, Liam shivered. "Yeah," he said uneasily, "you're right."

She pulled him to a stop. "What is it, Liam?"

He avoided her eyes. "I...I saw a future once. It was...bad."

It was clearly worse than that, but Siobhan knew when not to press. If he wanted to tell her, he would. Instead, she drew him onward, back toward the church.

"My grandmother had the Sight, you know," she said lightly, to break the mood. "She was a druid, my gran, which you would think would be a terribly rare thing in this day and age -- and it was -- but my gran's family had kept to the old traditions."

"Was she the one that taught you the runes?" Liam asked.

"Oh, indeed. The runes and other secrets of the earth. Now, as a Companion Protector, I know that the Sight runs in my family because of Ma'el's interference in human development, but it's still a gift we have used to keep our people safe for centuries. And so my gran had the Sight, and my mother -- though she would never admit it -- had the Sight--"

"--and I have the Sight," Liam said.

"Do you now? Who would have thought?" She was beginning to understand that little slip of paper in his wallet. Raido -- the bridge between Heaven and Earth -- would be his rune, just as Sowelo -- knowing one's inner strength -- was hers.

Liam laughed, and relaxed. "Actually, it's how I came to be Da'an's protector," he said. The story he had told in the conference room had left out his vision of Quo'on's death at the Jaridian replicant's hands; he had said merely that he had saved Da'an from an assassin. "I had a vision and I tackled him, and the rest is history."

They walked on, chatting amiably, and were within sight of the church when they were suddenly surrounded by black-clad Volunteers.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Commander William Boone sat at his desk in the Security and Interspecies Relations office, staring at the photograph of himself and his missing, probably dead, buddy Lieutenant Liam Kincaid. His CVI, picking up his sudden concentration, pulled up vivid memories of the man -- memories Will Boone did not necessarily want to relive right now, involving, as they did, the horrors of the S-I War.

The day of the photo had been one of the few good days, though. It had been the last day of their leave, before they had to report back for that final, ill-fated mission. A scrawny kid with an instant camera had offered to take the picture, and Boone, seeing the boy's threadbare, patched shirt and realizing that this was probably how the kid was helping support his family, acquiesced. He and Kincaid leaned together against the wall of a nearby building, insouciant grins on their faces, while the kid took a couple of photos and developed them. Boone gave him double the money he asked for, and the kid scampered away with a bright grin, no doubt to accost some other American soldiers.

Kincaid had looked at him oddly, but only clapped him on the shoulder. "You're a good man, Will."

"Yeah -- don't spread it around," Boone replied, and the moment was lost.

"Hey." Lili's voice penetrated the CVI fog. "I thought you had a handle on that."

"On what?" He blinked as he surfaced from the intensity of the memory.

"That whole CVI thing. I thought it had stopped running away with you." The look she gave him was slightly disapproving.

He shrugged, and tucked the photo away. "For the most part I have. As it happens, I was doing it on purpose this time."

"Why?"

"Because some people deserve to be remembered," Boone said with a scowl. Their alien guest -- and Boone was having a little problem thinking of the man by either the rank or the name he claimed -- had explained that between them, he and his Augur had chosen to appropriate Lieutenant Kincaid's identity for three reasons: because they needed an attachment to their William Boone, because Kincaid and the alien shared a given name, and because Kincaid's Irish heritage provided the only link to the younger Liam's mother that he could acknowledge. "I understand that it was disrespectful," the young man said ernestly. "I know how you must think of it, Commander Boone, but if you think of it from a Resistance standpoint, he was perfect -- no living family, likely dead himself...and he had that connection to you that would interest Da'an."

"And why," Jonathan Doors had rumbled, "did you need to interest Da'an?"

Liam shrugged uncomfortably. "The Resistance needed someone on the inside. I thought that in the immediate aftermath of the funeral, Da'an would want someone with whom he could share memories of the commander."

"Even though you didn't actually have any," Boone commented dryly, trying not to think about being dead.

Liam looked sheepish. "Even though." He shrugged. "I was only a day old at the time, give me a break, okay?"

Lili's sigh recalled Boone to the present. "I understand how you feel, Boone. I don't especially like him appropriating the uniform, but he was right about the Resistance needing someone on the inside."

Boone looked up at her. "There was always you."

She shrugged. "Not highly enough placed, and not likely to advance farther without a CVI of my own...at which point, I would have become a liability." She gave Boone a searching look. "Boone, your friend Kincaid. How would he have felt about the Taelons?"

Boone sat back in his chair, lacing his fingers over his stomach as he considered the question. Kincaid hadn't been a particularly philosophical guy, so it was hard to say. Like Boone himself, Kincaid had been fiercely loyal to his men. He was an exceptional soldier, practical and pragmatic -- he did what was necessary to get the job done, but he also knew when to ask questions, and when to make his own decisions.

"I think he would have reserved judgment," Boone said slowly. "And...I think he would have distrusted their altruism."

"Like you did," Lili suggested.

Boone nodded. "Like I did."

"And would he have joined the Resistance, if he didn't like what he saw?"

Boone, seeing where she was going with her questions, smiled. "He would have. You're saying by the kid using Kincaid's identity, he's getting a chance he didn't get in life?"

Lili tilted her head, half nod, half shrug. "I might be," she replied, in the same tone a teacher might use when a particularly slow pupil finally gets the point. "But it doesn't really matter at the moment. It's done and there's nothing anyone can do about it -- especially since it's not _our_ Liam. Either of them." She nodded in the general direction of his computer. "What do the surveillance records show?"

Boone grimaced. "I hadn't gotten that far yet. Too busy being a jerk about our young friend." He straighened and pulled his chair back up to his desk. A few taps on his keyboard brought up the previous evening's embassy surveillance. Lili moved around to his side of the desk, leaning over his shoulder to see the monitor, one hand on the back of his chair.

A few more taps brought up the shuttle pad's specific surveillance record. Boone had started it at the time when he knew that Kincaid -- he firmly reminded himself to use the name -- had been at the church, and there, on the video, plain as day, was a shuttle. 

"So far, so good," Lili murmured. 

Boone instructed the computer to incrementally reverse the video, until Kincaid appeared in the shuttle's cockpit, then he let it run forward again. They watched as Kincaid dismissed the virtual glass, climbed out of the shuttle, checked his watch with a frown, then strode out.

"He's certainly not trying to hide," Lili said. 

"Which would tend to indicate that he was telling the truth about not realizing there was any problem. And also about being an actual Companion Protector."

"Can we trace the flight?"

Boone turned back to the computer. "We should be able to." He instructed the feed to continue to play in reverse.

"Wait," Lili said sharply, as the shuttle reversed out of the dock. "Run that forward." Boone obliged, and she watched intently, a crease appearing between her brows. "That's definitely a rough landing. The outside of the shuttle doesn't appear to be damaged, though. Okay, run it back."

"Computer, switch to the Mothership's external surveillance," Boone ordered. "Show this shuttle's flight from point of appearance to landing at embassy."

At the first sight of the shuttle appearing precipitously from ID space and cartwheeling toward the planet, Lili sucked in a breath. Boone felt her fingers tighten on the back of the chair, then loosen a bit when the shuttle's flight mostly straightened out.

"Holy cow," she said. "I take it back. That wasn't a rough landing -- that was a superb landing. He has to be one hell of a pilot." She smirked. "Of course he would be, if _I_ trained him."

"What do you think happened?" Boone asked.

Lili straightened thoughtfully. "He said that when this happened before, it was because someone sabotaged his ship. I'm guessing that that's what happened again. Someone sabotaged the ID drive."

"I notice that he didn't say _who_ sabotaged the ship," Boone said. "In fact, he seemed very careful _not_ to say who did it...but I noticed that he was also very carefully _not_ looking in Doors' direction."

Lili gave him a sharp look. "You think _Jonathan_ tried to kill him?"

"Not this time," Boone said, gesturing at the monitor. "But, yes. I think the first time, he did. And given the way Kincaid acts around him, I think he knows it. You know Jonathan would do anything to preserve the Liberation. He was more than willing to kill me if my CVI didn't work the way Dr. Belman expected it to. If he saw the kid as a threat? And you _know_ he's not happy about Siobhan and our Liam living under the church."

Lili sighed. "I sometimes forget that you used to be a cop."

Boone shrugged. His ability to synthesize disparate pieces of data into a cohesive -- and generally correct -- whole had served him well long before he had become a police officer. He hadn't been assigned to direct traffic during the war any more than she had. "Tell me I'm wrong."

Lili shook her head. "No. I don't think you're wrong. Jonathan can be ruthless; it's part of the reason he got to be such a successful businessman." She turned and leaned against Boone's desk, crossing her arms over her chest. "So what do we do?"

Boone looked up to meet her eyes. "For right now? Nothing. But I think we need to figure out some other safe place for Siobhan and Liam, someplace that's not under Jonathan's thumb. And I think we need to keep Kincaid away from Jonathan as much as possible."

"That should be easy enough. If we're lucky, the shuttle doesn't need much work and we can have Kincaid out of here by tomorrow. If you can make an excuse for me to take you to D. C., I can check it now." She pushed herself away from the desk.

Boone tapped at his keyboard again, resetting the surveillance feeds. "Uh, oh," he said. "Lili, we have a problem."

She turned back to him, and he gestured at his monitor, an expression of consternation on his face. "The shuttle's gone."

~*~*~

Volunteer Shannon Kelly looked critically at the docked shuttle. From the briefing she had been given, the shuttle had appeared suddenly from ID space last evening. Taelon air traffic control could not make contact with it, so either its communications were out, or the pilot had been ignoring requests for communication. In addition, the shuttle's flight had been erratic, though it had been set down safely enough at the Washington embassy. It had been retrieved this morning from the shuttle pad at the embassy and returned to the Mothership for investigation and repair, if necessary.

Shannon's job was to download the flight logs and other information aboard, make a preliminary assessment of the controls, and begin repairs. Before boarding the shuttle, she made a narrow-eyed examination of the exterior, checking the flight pods and the structural bioslurry for defects. Upon finding nothing untoward, she boarded the shuttle, settling first into the pilot's seat, and calling up the pre-flight sequence.

For a moment, she allowed herself to imagine that she was pre-flighting her own shuttle, on her way to some glamorous destination with North American Companion Da'an -- or perhaps even Synod Leader Quo'on -- aboard. She had joined the Volunteer Corps two years ago with the hope of becoming either a pilot, like Captain Marquette, or a Companion Protector like Lieutenant Beckett, who was, so her Irish granny kept telling her, some sort of distant cousin. She had become a proficient enough pilot, but so far, her applications to the pilot corps had been denied, so the closest she could get to actually flying was to be a mechanic who occasionally was allowed to test repairs within tightly-defined flight parameters.

The lights of the controls played across Shannon's face as she went through all the pre-flight checks and found nothing outside of normal parameters. She set the controls back to "ground," and called up the logs, instead.

There was a second's delay before the logs appeared, but nothing out of the normal range. Still, Shannon frowned a bit; there shouldn't have been any delay at all. She opened the logs, directing them to appear on the virtual control panel in front of her. 

She scrolled through the menus and called up the most recent flight first. There were options for the logs; full recording, which included sound and video of everything that happened in the cockpit during the flight, as well as the incidental data that was normally recorded. There were also options for video only, sound only, or data only. There was no firm rule about which option to use, so pilots tended to choose what they were most comfortable with. This particular pilot had chosen data only.

According to the recordings, the pilot had left the Mothership around nineteen hundred, entered ID space less than a minute later, and then the data got...weird. Shannon could think of no other way to describe it. The weirdness lasted for about a minute and a half, then the shuttle exited ID space. Precipitously. Almost as if it had been kicked out of the slipstream like a drunk ejected from a bar by a bouncer. 

Shannon frowned and looked at the data again, then looked down at her mini-computer. The recording from the shuttle showed it leaving the Mothership. But the Mothership's traffic control logs, which she had downloaded prior to coming to the shuttle bay, showed no departures for the time in question; the shuttle did not appear in those logs until its abrupt exit from ID space.

"Okay, that's definitely weird," Shannon murmured. She exited the logs and called up the pilot registration information. The shuttle was registered to a Companion Protector -- which had Shannon frowning again. She knew the names of all the current Companion Protectors, and she knew most of the shuttle pilots by sight. Major Liam Kincaid was a member of neither group.

She looked at the photograph that was part of the registration information. Brown hair, green eyes, kind face. "Well, you're cute, anyway, whoever you are." 

So who was he, and how did his information get into the shuttle?

~*~*~

Boone's global beeped, showing Sandoval's ID -- his official ID. Boone frowned at Lili, who removed herself from view, just as her own global beeped. She moved across the office to take the call.

"Go, Sandoval," Boone said.

Sandoval's face glowered from the global screen; he appeared to be at the embassy, in Da'an's reception chamber. "Commander Boone," he said, with no pleasantries. "Come to Washington at once." His expression gave nothing away, but Boone had learned to live with that in the last year or so, and had even come to be able to recognize that Sandoval did have micro-expressions -- occasionally. At the moment, however, his mask was absolute. Which probably meant that Da'an was present.

"On my way," Boone replied. He snapped the global shut. "It looks like we have that excuse to go to D. C. you wanted, but we're going to have to worry about the shuttle later."

"It's on the Mothership," Lili said, hooking her global back on her belt. "Augur just got a log dump using the same protocols that I use on my shuttle for when some of the data might involve Liberation information. Apparently, the Taelons noticed the shuttle's arrival and sent someone to return it to the Mothership for repair." She raised a brow. "I think we have pretty much just proven that Major Kincaid is who he says he is."

"Mostly," Boone said wryly, coming out from behind his desk and catching up his suit jacket.

"Mostly," Lili agreed.

Fifteen minutes later -- after an uneventful flight to Washington -- Boone, shadowed by Lili, walked into Da'an's reception chamber in the embassy. Da'an was seated in his chair, apparently absorbed in a datastream, while Sandoval stood by, his hands behind his back, his eyes alert. Boone thought that Sandoval was near enough for his CVI to catch the contents of the datastream, even while he seemed to be watching everything else.

Boone remembered how weird he had found the embassy and everything about it during his first few days as a Companion Protector, and how he had had to struggle to suppress those feelings because nothing about the Taelons would perturb a proper Implant. Now, over a year later, Da'an's elevated chair, the purple-blue bioslurry, and hanging vines were so familiar to him, he barely noticed them as being in any way different from the glass and painted drywall of his own office.

He stopped at a respectful distance from Da'an's chair; Lili waited just inside the doorway. When Da'an waved the datastream off, Boone gave him the Taelon greeting gesture. "Good morning, Da'an."

Da'an returned the greeting. "Commander Boone," he said, "You have been summoned because of a security matter. You will doubtless recall some months ago when the Kimera Ha'gel was released on this planet."

"As a matter of fact, I do recall that, Da'an," he responded in a tone shaded by irony. He had been badly injured in the stand-off with Ha'gel at St. Michael's; his recovery had been lengthy. His eyes flickered to Sandoval who remained expressionless; this sudden mention of Ha'gel could not be good.

Da'an nodded. "I thought you might." There was no trace of irony in his tone. "The Commonality has once again been disturbed by the presence of a Kimera." He looked at each of the three humans in his audience chamber. "You must find this Kimera and destroy it."

Boone allowed a mild expression of confusion to cross his face. "But Ha'gel was destroyed, was he not?"

Da'an's hands flowed through a series of gestures that Boone had come to recognize as mild reproof. "Ha'gel was indeed destroyed; the Commonality felt him die. He was the last of the Kimera. However, it appears that he was able to reproduce before he died. It is this Kimera-spawn that must be found."

"Is the Commonality aware of a location?" Boone asked, keeping his voice even and and not looking in Sandoval's direction.

"No," Da'an said. "Not with any certainty. The disturbance is weak, which is another indication of a Kimera-spawn, rather than a full Kimera such as Ha'gel."

"Is it possible that the disturbance is another human pyschic such as Katya Petrenko?" Sandoval, who had moved from his position behind Da'an's chair, asked.

Da'an cocked his head and looked from one implant to another, his right hand rising to his chin while his left hand traced an opposite path. He blinked slowly. "It could be possible. It could also be possible that Ha'gel used a human psychic to reproduce."

"Surely a child could not be a threat to the Taelons," Boone objected mildly.

"You think not?" Zo'or, the Taelon ambassador to the United Nations, stepped past Lili into the chamber, his protector Jack Malley behind him. Malley silently took up a post on the opposite side of the doorway from Lili. "You are thinking in human terms, Commander Boone. The Kimera-spawn might be young, but it would not necessarily appear as a child."

"I do not understand," Boone said, facing Zo'or. He forced all thoughts of Liams -- both Kincaid and Sandoval's son -- into a dark box at the back of his mind and slammed it shut.

If Boone occasionally thought that he was starting to understand and even like Da'an -- as much as any human ever could, of course -- he never thought the same about Zo'or. The Companion to the United Nations did not agree with Da'an's views on humanity; he considered the human race to be a far lesser species that would never evolve to the level of a Taelon. Nor was he shy about letting people know how he felt. He certainly never bothered to restrain himself in front of Boone or Sandoval or any other implants.

Zo'or's sneer made his opinion of Boone's intelligence obvious. "I would not expect you to. As a hybrid creature, the Kimera-spawn would not necessarily be constrained by its human genetics. It would likely have an accelerated growth rate and would appear as an adult human."

"If so, would it also have the mind of an adult?" Sandoval asked. Boone admired the cool tone of his voice, when he had to be worried sick about the sudden danger posed to his son. 

And why now? The answer was obvious, of course; it was Kincaid that the Taelons were sensing. Or perhaps not. Perhaps both Liams were connected to the Commonality, but with a normally weak connection that the Taelons didn't notice. Kincaid's arrival, though, would double that connection, bringing it to the Commonality's attention. Since the Petrenko incident, the Synod's stance on human psychics had relaxed a bit; there had to be a way to make it seem like a human telepath.

Zo'or had turned to Sandoval. "Why do you ask such a question, Agent Sandoval?"

Sandoval's face was impassive as he responded. "To clarify the danger. If the Kimera-spawn is a child, then there will be little danger from it. If it is an adult with the mind of a child, then again, there will be little danger. But if it is an adult, with the mind and abilities of an adult, then it could conceivably wield weapons against us."

"Like the Taelons," Da'an said, "the Kimera were born with the memories of their parents and all their race before them."

Boone allowed a faintly sad expression to come onto his face as he took a calculatedly hesitant step toward Da'an. The Taelon's eyes turned toward him. "Something, Commander?"

Boone gave a slight shrug. "I was just thinking what a heavy burden all that knowledge would be for anyone, but especially for a child."

Da'an's hands described a slow, thoughtful gesture. "It is the nature of the Kimera. And the Taelons. It is what is, Commander. It cannot be changed."

Boone nodded. "Perhaps not for the Kimera or the Taelons," he said, "but humans are not born with such knowledge, and if this being is half human...." He allowed his voice to trail off, a tactic he used with Da'an fairly often when he was attempting to get the Taelon to see something from a human viewpoint.

Da'an held Boone's eyes for a long moment, then he blinked slowly, and nodded, as though conceding the point. 

"This debate is pointless," Zo'or spat. "This Kimera-spawn, if it has aged to adulthood, will be a functional adult. If it is still a child, then it will have the mind of a child. But it matters not. Your orders are to find it and destroy it."

Boone knew when to stop pushing. "Of course, Zo'or," he said.

"There is one thing more of which you must be mindful," Da'an said. "This Kimera-spawn -- whether child or adult or something in between -- will likely have functioning shaqarava. You, Commander, will remember how dangerous that can be."

Boone nodded. "I do," he said, his grim tone unfeigned. Ha'gel's shaqarava blast had only caught him sidelong, but the damage had been extensive. _And_ , Boone had been given to understand later, Ha'gel had not intended it to be a fatal shot. Boone had still been certain -- before unconsciousness claimed him -- that he _was_ dying. He also knew that the boy Liam had shaqarava -- and since Kincaid was a genetic match for the boy, then Kincaid had them, too. And more importantly, unlike the boy Liam, as an adult and Companion Protector, Kincaid likely thought of his shaqarava as something more than just a convenient way to read comic books under the blankets when he was supposed to be sleeping.

"But as you will also remember, Commander," Zo'or added, "your skrill is an effective weapon against the Kimera." He gestured toward Sandoval. "Your two skrills together should be more than sufficient to kill the creature."

Boone did not feel it necessary to point out that he did not, in fact, remember catching Ha'gel with an energy blast from Condor. He, too, had not intended to kill, only to disable Ha'gel and protect the police officers rushing into the church, but the blast had been enough to disembody the Kimera and free Sandoval from his stasis coccoon. Though...no one was certain if Ha'gel was _actually_ dead. Certainly the Taelons seemed to think he was, and no one had seen any sign of him, but Siobhan maintained that she had dreamed of him a few times, and even Sandoval admitted that he had seen the Kimera in dreams. If Liam had dreamed of his Kimera father, only he and possibly his parents knew.

"Commander Boone and I will coordinate the search from his office," Sandoval said. "We will also require the services of Captain Marquette and her shuttle."

Da'an nodded. "Of course, Agent Sandoval. May good fortune attend your search."

Sandoval glanced at Boone and strode out. Boone nodded to both Da'an and Zo'or and followed. Lili fell in behind him. None of them said a word until they were safely in Lili's shuttle and she had activated the virtual glass, and then she spoke.

"Now what do we do?"

"We need to talk to Kincaid," Boone said. "We need to find out what he knows about the Kimera."


	4. Chapter 4

Liam looked at his watch. Half an hour had passed since he had been escorted to this bare room furnished with only a table and two chairs in the security level of the embassy, and asked to please have a seat and wait. The Volunteer who had escorted him had been professional and surprisingly courteous, but refused to answer any questions. After their arrest in the park, he and Siobhan had been almost immediately separated, but not before her hand had found his; he had been frankly astonished when she had initiated the brief Sharing. His own mother had not been able to do that -- he wondered if she would have developed the ability had she lived.

He had taken some time to assimilate all of the information that she had pressed into his mind -- codes, hiding places, the plans she and Boone and Sandoval had worked out in the event she fell into Taelon hands. Her instructions for him were not to attempt to find her; if all went well, she would already be on her way to Doctor Belman's clinic. In that moment, she was far more worried about him than about herself.

Liam, on the other hand, was much more concerned about _her._ He knew where he was in the embassy in relation to the exits. He knew where the hidden surveillance was in this room. He might not necessarily know the codes to override the system, but he was confident that judicious use of his shaquarava would get him out if necessary. Siobhan had made it clear that he was to wait, though, as she believed that he would simply be released if he played along with the plans that she was showing him.

And so he had reluctantly taken a seat on the opposite side of the table from the open door -- where he could see the shimmer of virtual glass -- and waited, occasionally checking his watch. With nothing more than that to occupy his time, he began to notice the return of a dull ache in his head. Hopefully, he would be able to get out of here before the painkillers Dr. Park had given him wore off completely.

Eventually, a suit-clad man -- not a Volunteer -- approached the doorway. Liam kept the surprise off his face as he recognized Agent Lassiter; he should really have been expecting to see other people that he knew, especially given how close this dimension appeared to be to his own.

Lassiter disengaged the security field and stepped into the room. He took the remaining seat, dropping a manilla file folder on the table as he did so. Liam hid a smile; he was relatively certain that the papers in that file were blank. It was a good trick, but one that he recognized from Sandoval's memories of interrogations.

"Good morning," Lassiter said. "I'm Agent Lassiter with Companion Security. I need to ask you a few questions."

"Good morning," Liam responded politely. "Can you tell me what's going on here? The Volunteers wouldn't say."

"First, maybe you could tell me your name."

"Oh, sure. It's Liam Kincaid."

"Just like your ID, then."

Liam grinned. "Good, right? My cousin got it for me for my birthday -- I went to a Halloween party last year as a Companion Protector."

Lassiter's eyebrows rose. "Aren't you a little old for Halloween, Major?" he asked with a slight emphasis on the last word.

Liam shrugged. "It's not like I was trick-or-treating -- it was a party." He sighed. "This is stupid, but I was cleaning out some stuff the other day and came across the costume wallet and tossed it on the counter with my regular wallet. So of course I grabbed the wrong one this morning. You know how it is."

The story wasn't _entirely_ fabricated. Liam _had_ been cleaning, and he _had_ walked out of his apartment yesterday morning with only his Companion agent identification, leaving the wallet containing his drivers license, his Social Security card, and his cash card on the wavy-edged bar that served as his table and workspace.

He owed Lili ten bucks for lunch.

From the expression Lassiter was giving him, the agent had never made such a stupid mistake in his life and couldn't believe that another grown man could do so either. But he didn't say anything more about the ID. "Tell me about the woman you were with," he said instead.

It was Liam's turn to raise his eyebrows and he rather deliberately borrowed Lassiter's own expression of surprise. "Sharon? I don't really know her all that well; I only met her recently. We were going to have breakfast this morning. What's going on here, anyway?" 

"For such a fan of the Companion Protectors, I'd think you'd recognize Siobhan Beckett," Lassiter said.

"Who? Oh, you mean the Companion Protector who disappeared?" Liam frowned. "I always thought Sharon kind of looked like her -- but Beckett's Irish and you only have to listen to Sharon to know she's not." He'd nearly spoiled the whole thing when Siobhan had suddenly assumed a classic brassy "we're walkin' here!" accent. He made his eyes go round. "Are you saying that Sharon is actually the missing Companion Protector? No way!"

"The skrill didn't give it away?"

Liam shrugged. "I thought it was like my ID," he said defensively. "Just cosplay; I had one, too, for the party; this rubber thing I bought at a costume shop. Pretty flimsy, though; it ripped when I took it off after the party. I told you I just met her recently; breakfast was supposed to be our first date."

"And where did you meet?"

"I ran into her at the museum. You know, the Taelon exhibit? It's fantastic -- have you seen it? Anyway, like I said, I just thought she was a fan like me. She's _really_ Siobhan Beckett? What was she doing pretending to be Sharon Best?" 

An uncertain expression flashed across Lassiter's face, before he smiled slightly. "That's classified, I'm afraid," he said smoothly, "but we certainly thank you for your cooperation."

"I can go, then?" Liam asked, brightly, starting to get up. He really wanted to get out of that little room; over the last several minutes, his headache had intensified, and he was finding the lights just a little too bright. Plus, he was beginning to think that Siobhan had been a little too optimistic about his chances of being released.

"Of course," Lassiter said, surprising him. "I just need your signature on a couple of forms." He slid them out of the manilla folder -- it seemed Liam had guessed incorrectly about its contents -- and handed them to Liam along with a pen. Liam scrawled his signature on the forms, not caring what they really said; with any luck, he'd be out of this dimension by tomorrow.

"All right, Mr. Kincaid," Lassiter said, "I'll just escort you out, and you can be on your way. Sorry for any inconvenience." 

"No problem," Liam replied. "Tell Sharon -- I mean, Siobhan -- that if she's ever free, I'd still like to have breakfast."

Lassiter nodded. "I will certainly let her know that," he said, his tone indicating that Liam had a snowball's chance in hell of _that_ ever happening.

"Great! Which way out?"

~*~*~

In the quiet corner of the Liberation headquarters that Augur had claimed as his own, the technologist was monitoring a particularly delicate financial transaction. Compared to the excitement occasioned last evening by the appearance of Major Kincaid, this morning was pretty quiet. On the other hand, the headquarters only really came to life at night. Most Liberation members had day jobs that they couldn't just not show up for -- not unless Jonathan Doors was willing to pay them a salary to be here. Which didn't mean that there weren't a few personnel who were salaried and whose jobs were simply to keep the Liberation running. Augur was not one of them, but he spent about equal amounts of time in the headquarters and in his own private sanctum. And he was quite capable of making his own money, thank you very much, and this particular little currency run was going to net him quite a--

He felt a tug on his shirt. 

"Uncle Augur?" a small voice said.

He looked down into the bright green eyes of Liam Rory Beckett-Sandoval. Sneaky; he hadn't even heard the kid approaching. Liam was clutching a worn teddy bear and looked...worried. Augur sighed, gave one last glance at his computer, then let the transaction go. There would be others.

"What's up, kid?" Augur wasn't usually good with kids, but it was really hard not to like Liam.

"I'm scared, Uncle Augur." There was a definite tremor in the kid's voice.

Augur glanced around with a frown. There didn't appear to be anything here that would scare the kid -- especially since Jonathan was currently elsewhere. Besides, even Jonathan liked Liam. More or less -- okay, maybe a little less than more, and he certainly hadn't liked the adult version, Augur reflected, but the point remained that most people liked the kid, and there shouldn't be anything here to scare him. He leaned down. "Of what?"

"Bad people took Mama and Major Kincaid." The kid looked to be on the verge of tears. 

"Bad people?" Augur was momentarily puzzled. "What makes you say that, kiddo?"

"I saw them -- in my head. Mama and Major Kincaid were walking in the park, and then people all in black came and took them away."

Augur frowned. He was one of the very few people who knew about Liam's precognitive abilities. While most of the people of this particular Liberation cell knew about Liam's heritage -- it would have been difficult to hide his rapid aging and the sudden addition of two new Companion Protectors to the Liberation rolls -- only those who had been present at his birth and for the few days immediately afterward knew more than that. Liam had been given a specific list of people he was to go to if he had a vision that frightened him and his parents were not available. Of those people, Augur and Dr. Park were the only ones currently in the headquarters.

"Okay, kiddo," he said, sliding off his chair to kneel next to the boy. It was true that Beckett and Kincaid had been gone a pretty long time. The morning meeting had broken up at least an hour ago, and had carried on for twenty minutes or so past the time that Beckett had taken Kincaid for a walk. "Can you tell me if what you saw in your head has already happened? Or is it something that will happen later?"

Liam looked thoughtful. "It already happened." He screwed up his face in concentration. "Major Kincaid is waiting in a little room. He's bored. And his head hurts. And he's worried about Mama. He's not sure that she told him the right thing to do."

Augur's eyebrows rose. "And how do you know what Major Kincaid is feeling, kiddo?"

The little boy shrugged and cocked his head. "I can feel him. In my head. He could probably feel me, too, but he's thinking about other stuff."

"I bet he is," Augur muttered. "What about your mom? Do you know what she's doing?"

Liam's eyes squeezed shut in concentration once again. "She's nervous," he said at last. "They know who she is. She's afraid that they'll do bad things to her head and make her hurt people."

He opened his eyes and clutched his bear tighter, a look of terrible sadness on his face. "Don't let them hurt her, Uncle Augur."

Augur was already reaching for his global.

~*~*~

The shuttle had just touched down on the landing pad below Boone's office when three globals beeped in unison. There was a moment's stunned silence -- all three globals going off at once could only mean a Liberation disaster of some sort -- then a flurry of activity as Boone, Sandoval, and Lili all pulled their globals free at once and checked, but did not yet answer, the incoming calls.

"I've got Augur," Lili said.

"So do I," Boone responded. They both looked over at Sandoval, who nodded grimly, and answered his call.

"Go, Augur."

Augur appeared on the small screen. "Sandoval," he said. "Can you talk?"

Sandoval nodded. "I'm with Boone and Marquette. What happened?"

In response, Augur changed the angle at which he was holding his global, so Sandoval could see who was with him. Sandoval's whole demeanor changed at once, his eyes softening and a smile appearing on his face. "Liam! What's up, tiger?"

"Papa!" The little voice was full of urgency, and Sandoval's smile faltered for a moment before he gamely plastered it back on. "Papa, you have to go help Mama! The bad people have her and Major Kincaid, Papa."

Sandoval felt his stomach bottom out, and the smile slid off his face, but he kept his voice even and calm for Liam's sake. He was aware of both Boone and Marquette opening their globals and tapping at them. "How do you know this, Liam? Did you have a vision?"

"Yes, Papa. I told Uncle Augur, just like I was supposed to."

Sandoval smiled faintly. "Good boy. I need to talk to Uncle Augur for a few minutes, okay? And then I want you to go find Miriam, because I'll bet she's worried about you. Did you tell her where you were going?"

The boy lowered his eyes toward his teddy bear. "No, Papa." He looked back up again, a hint of defiance on his face. "This was important!"

Sandoval gave his son a grave nod. "Yes, it was. Very important, and I'm glad that you told Uncle Augur. But you should also have told Miriam that you needed to talk to him, because I'll bet she's worried about you."

"Okay, Papa."

"Good boy," Sandoval said again. "Now I need to talk to Uncle Augur." The global angle changed again, back to Augur's face. "What have you got?"

"Nothing so far," Augur answered. "I called you first."

Sandoval nodded. "All right. Keep me informed -- if you can't reach me, call Boone or Marquette."

Augur nodded. "Of course."

"And Augur -- thanks." He slid his global shut. Closed his eyes for a brief moment. _Siobhan!_ It was what they had feared ever since the decision had been made that she would not resurface after Liam's birth. It was tempting to blame Major Kincaid, but Sandoval couldn't. He was very well aware that it could have happened at any time; Siobhan had refused to stay in the Liberation headquarters when she could be of use. When his eyes opened again, he found both Boone and Marquette still trying to wring information from their globals.

"Anything?" he asked.

Marquette shook her head. "I've alerted both Doctors Belman and Park; Julianne is on duty and Melissa is on call, so if the Volunteers figure out who Siobhan is--"

_"When_ they figure it out," Sandoval corrected her. "Since she still has her skrill, it's unlikely that she'll be able to fool them for long."

"Maybe Kestrel will play along," Boone suggested, "and pretend to be one of those toys. Some of them are pretty realistic."

"Even if it does," Marquette objected, "only the greenest recruit would be likely to mistake her for anyone else. In any case, the doctors are standing by."

"There's a security alert at the Embassy," Boone said. "They've got Kincaid in an interrogation room. He's probably fine for now; though we'll want to get him out of there as soon as possible before Da'an and Zo'or realize that their Kimera-spawn is right under their noses. Our priority right now should be Beckett."

"Agreed," Sandoval said. "Captain Marquette, if you'd please take us back to--"

He stopped speaking abruptly as the data stream in the shuttle came to life framing Da'an's face. "Ah, Commander Boone. You are still in the shuttle?"

"We've just set down at my office, Da'an," Boone responded.

"You must come back to Washington at once," Da'an said. "The Volunteers have just found Siobhan Beckett."

Boone raised his eyebrows in a creditable imitation of surprise. "Lieutenant Beckett is alive?"

"Indeed," Da'an responded. "She appears to have suffered some damage to her CVI, and is being taken to Doctor Belman's clinic. I would like to have you and Agent Sandoval interview her before you begin your other assignment. It is possible that if the damage can be ameliorated, the lieutenant could join you in your search."

"All right, Da'an. Captain Marquette will take us directly to the clinic." He paused. "Where did the Volunteers find her?"

"I am given to understand that she was walking in a park in the city with a young man, when a bystander in the park recognized her and called the embassy."

"Who was the man?"

"I believe that Agent Lassiter is attempting to establish his identity," Da'an replied. "He does not appear to have known that the woman he was walking with was our missing Companion Protector."

"All right, Da'an. We're on our way back."

Da'an nodded gracefully, and the data stream shut off.

"You heard him, Captain Marquette. Back to Washington," Sandoval ordered. She nodded and set the shuttle in motion again. "Once we get there, Captain, I want you to see what you can find out about Major Kincaid while Boone and I are 'interviewing' Siobhan."

"Right," Lili said. "Should I attempt to get him out?"

Sandoval considered it. On the one hand, Kincaid was safe enough where he was for now; the Taelons wouldn't be looking for him right under their noses. On the other hand....

"If Lassiter runs his DNA," Boone said, in tandem with Sandoval's thought, "it'll be all over."

"Not necessarily," Sandoval replied. "If they run it with the equipment they have, it'll take time, especially when it turns up genetic anomalies that the software can't interpret. And if they try to get around that by running a parental search, it'll turn up Siobhan and me, and they'll be _positive_ that the equipment is faulty. As long as they don't go to Da'an over the anomalies, Kincaid should be fine where he is."

"Okay, so leave him, then?" Marquette asked. 

Sandoval and Boone exchanged glances. "Play it by ear," Boone said at last. "If there's an opportunity to... _facilitate_ his exit from the embassy, then by all means, facilitate away." 

Marquette sighed. "So, business as usual, then."


	5. Chapter 5

Siobhan Beckett lay on an examination table in a darkened room. She was ostensibly sedated, but the injection she had been given was only saline; had she so desired, she could have gotten up and left at any time. But for this plan to work, she had to play her part. And Doctors Belman and Park had to play their parts, and Boone and Sandoval had to play theirs, and Da'an had to react as they had predicted. So far, so good, though. When she and Kincaid had been separated -- and she spared a moment's thought for the young man, hoping that he had played along as she had instructed in their brief Sharing -- she had been bundled almost immediately into an ambulance and brought here, complaining stridently in her much practiced and almost overdone brassy accent.

The door to this room was firmly closed, but her CVI-enhanced hearing picked up the sound of nearby voices. She recognized Dr. Belman, and answering her, William Boone. Good. Wait, was that Sandoval? Yes. She relaxed slightly, knowing that so far, things were going according to the plan that had been exhaustively worked out ahead of time. The only contingency they had not foreseen was the arrival of an adult analogue of her son from another dimension. He was sensible, though, in addition to being an experienced double-agent. He would be fine.

The door opened.

"She's in here," Dr. Belman said, walking into the room. "She's been sedated...."

The door closed. There was a moment of silence, then Dr. Belman spoke again. "Monitoring is off," she said softly, "but we have to be quick."

Siobhan opened her eyes to see Sandoval standing right beside her. He took her hand. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. "I'm fine," she replied softly in her own voice. "Though Sharon's accent is giving me a sore throat." 

Sandoval's eyes crinkled at the corners as he huffed a laugh. "Not much longer."

She shook her head. "No." She looked beyond him and met first Boone's and then the doctor's eyes. "Promise me that if anything goes wrong, you'll get Liam to safety. Don't worry about me; save our son."

"Nothing's going to go wrong," Dr. Belman assured her. "We've been very careful."

"Promise me," Siobhan insisted. "You too, Sandoval."

"I promise," Boone said steadily. "Liam will be safe."

Siobhan locked eyes with Sandoval.

"I've already promised Liam to save you," he said with a small smile, caressing her hand with his thumb. "I can't disappoint him."

"And it's a fine thing, making such a promise to your son. But now you must make a promise to me. If something goes wrong; Liam is your priority. You know what will happen otherwise."

Sandoval closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them, she saw his resolution. 

"Your promise, Sandoval," she insisted. "I want to hear it."

He nodded. "I promise."

"Very well, then. Let's get on with it." She lay back down, closing her eyes. It was time for them to give the performances of their lives; if any one of them faltered, it could be disastrous for each of them, for her son, and for the Liberation as a whole. At least her part was easy enough; she had only to pretend to be unconscious for now -- though she and Dr. Belman had discussed the possibility of actually sedating her, just in case. In the end they had decided against it; Siobhan wanted the chance to fight back if something went awry.

"Monitoring is back on," Dr. Belman said, "in three...two...one. Now."

_Here we go,_ Siobhan thought.

~*~*~

Liam did not feel at all well. Not only had his headache come back, but so had the other aches and pains he had felt upon awakening this morning. He wasn't sure how long it had been since Dr. Park had given him the pain relievers; he was beginning to wish she'd given him the bottle for when they wore off. He looked at his watch; it wasn't even quite noon yet. _Busy morning,_ he thought vaguely.

Agent Lassiter had returned his ID and global to him and escorted him from the embassy. He hadn't gone very far, though, because he was sure that Agent Lassiter was having him followed. _He_ certainly wouldn't have let a suspicious character like himself just leave the embassy without having them followed. He couldn't imagine the quietly competent Lassiter not doing the same. He didn't want to use a portal again without being certain that the tiny device that Augur had installed in his wristwatch to mask his DNA worked in this dimension, and he couldn't lead any hypothetical followers back to the church. Besides, it was a long walk back to St. Michael's from the embassy. A very long walk.

So for the moment, he was sitting on a bench in yet another park, this one a block down from the embassy. He wondered if he could sneak back into the embassy to retrieve his shuttle. If he could get into the intrawall spaces, he could go all the way to the shuttle dock without being seen. Obviously no one had bothered to look at last night's surveillance records, or Lassiter wouldn't have been nearly so eager to let him go.

The _crack_ of a shuttle coming out of ID space caught his attention, and he looked back toward the embassy. The shuttle turned in a narrow arc, then neatly set down in the shuttle pad. While he obviously couldn't see the pilot from this distance, something about the economy of motion suggested Lili to him. After all, he had seen quite a lot of her piloting style when his Lili had been teaching him to fly, and there was no reason to suspect that this dimension's Lili was any less accomplished. He wondered if he should try to get in touch with her. At the moment, though, it seemed to be entirely too much effort to do anything other than sit here in the warm sun, trying to bake the aches from his body.

He knew that he _should_ be feeling a sense of urgency about Siobhan, but even that seemed remote.

_Something's wrong,_ he realized. _I--_

The bottom fell out of the world. Liam's mind seemed to expand, his perceptions of the universe growing ever outward toward the infinite. He saw the glowing web of the Commonality, the hundreds of interconnected, lambent orbs that represented the Taelons aboard the Mothership in lunar orbit. He saw the billions of sparkling lights that were the unconnected souls of humanity. He saw the Kimera archive ship on its lonely path, its damaged programming causing it to snag ships that passed too near out of ID space. He saw the Jaridian homeworld. He saw the Ma'hu'ra'va Galaxy and the dead world from whence both Taelons and Jardians had fled. He saw so much, and for everything he saw, the memories of the legions of Kimera who had come before him had a name.

For a moment, it seemed he saw all of the universe, timeless, infinite. It was like the moment he had stood in the shining vortex that was the doorway to Shahariath.

It was too much. No human mind -- whether enhanced with alien DNA or not -- could handle the vastness of the universe all at once. Liam felt himself losing his grasp on his sense of self, coming apart, when-- 

\--just as abruptly, his perceptions contracted. Before he even had a hope of adapting to the change, he was plunged into the inner workings of his own cells, the glittering of his three strands of DNA. Energy flowed through him, brilliant energy, tracing its way from a warm, glowing nexus near his heart through to the shaqarava in his palms. He was thrust past the intricacies of the energy flow, contracting even further, until he saw the molecules of which his body was made. Molecules became atoms...

...and before he could adjust to that, everything expanded again. And contracted. Only this time, he saw that the atoms making up his body were vibrating at a different rate from those making up the bench on which he sat. He began to understand what was happening, and as his mind once again expanded, he saw the thread linking him to little Liam. He realized that he had to protect the boy from this. With all the determination he possessed, he wove a barrier of energy between himself and the boy, holding it fiercely between them, concentrating on it to the exclusion of all else.

And at the same time, currents of energy moved through his body; it felt as though he had grabbed the raw power of an ID generator in each hand. He was flying apart and being slammed back together all at once, as though the universe were trying to unmake and remake him at the same time.

Liam couldn't move, couldn't think, wasn't certain he was even breathing. His body remained rigid on the bench, shaking, light leaking from his clenched fists, unaware that people were beginning to take notice.

Finally, as suddenly as it had begun, the storm raging in his body and mind ended. The energy shield between him and the child held for one moment more, then his mental fingers relaxed and the energy dissipated.

Liam's eyes rolled back and he slid bonelessly from the bench to the ground.

~*~*~

Lili set her shuttle down in the same spot that Kincaid's shuttle had occupied the night before and dismissed the virtual glass windscreen. Kincaid would be in the security section; she strode in that direction, the sharp sound of her heels striking the ground muted by the bioslurry of the floors.

 _This is certainly shaping up to be one hell of a day,_ she thought as she descended to the embassy's ground floor. The security section was in a human-built annex to the Taelon-grown embassy. Like William Boone's office, it was a hybrid of human and Taelon technologies. The blocky annex looked out of place next to the curving structure of the embassy; it struck Lili every time as an example of how the Taelons and humans trying to get along was like sticking a square peg into a round hole -- almost literally in the case of trying to fit human office furniture into a Taelon room.

Lassiter's office, however, was in the human-built section of the building. Like Sandoval, Lassiter was an FBI agent on loan to the Companions. Since he wasn't a Companion Protector, however, he was not an implant, though that had not necessarily made him any easier to deal with than Sandoval had been -- prior to Ha'gel, anyway. Still, Lili, as the first double-agent for the Liberation in service to the Companions, had been careful to cultivate good relationships with all of her colleagues. People were far less likely to suspect treachery from someone they liked and got along with. She knocked on the door, swinging it open at his muffled response.

"Hey, Lassiter," she said. "How's it going?" She entered the room and closed the door. It was easy to pretend here that she was somewhere other than the embassy; Lassiter's office was as prosaic as they came, with a plain wooden desk and chairs, metal filing cabinets, and his own coffee maker on a side table. And his windows looked out on the employee parking lot with no view of the embassy proper.

"Captain Marquette!" Lassiter said, surprised. He rose from his desk to shake her hand, indicating that she should take a seat. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Commander Boone sent me to talk to the guy that was with Lieutenant Beckett this morning," she replied.

Lassiter blinked. "He should've called ahead, then; I released the guy about half an hour ago."

"You did?" 

Lassiter nodded. "He's just some dumb cosplayer who thought Beckett was another cosplayer." He shook his head in disgust. "I can't decide who's worse; the ones who dress up in costume or the ones who go to that church."

"I know what you mean," Lili said, almost automatically. He meant the Church of the Companions, of course, and Lili had had her own opinion about them ever since she and Boone had had to pry young Julie Payton from the acquisitive grasp of their leader, Reverend Murray. She definitely preferred the cosplayers.

If Kincaid had been released, where was he? "I don't suppose you know which way the guy -- what was his name? -- went, do you?"

"Kincaid," Lassiter said. "Liam Kincaid. At least according to his patently fake Companion Protector ID card." He smiled faintly. "I figured we might want to talk to him again, so I ran his DNA, but I also have a couple of Volunteers watching him."

"Great!" Lili responded, while thinking exactly the opposite. "What did the DNA results say?"

Lassiter frowned. "Unfortunately, the processor chose this morning to go on the fritz. All it would give us was error messages. I called tech support, but I didn't get enough genetic material from him for another run, even when they get it fixed."

Lili did not allow her relief to show. One worry down, at least. "What about the Volunteers?"

"They haven't reported back yet," Lassiter said. "Shall I let you know when they do?"

Lili nodded and rose. "I've got to report back to Commander Boone. When the Volunteers figure out where Kincaid's going, just let me know, and I'll take it from there. I shouldn't think I'd need any Volunteers just to talk to one weirdo."

Lassiter laughed. "No, I think you can handle the guy."

"Thanks, Lassiter." Lili let herself out of the office and hesitated in the hallway for a moment. _Great. Now what? He has to know that he's being followed, so he wouldn't go back to the church. Would he?_

Her global beeped with an incoming call from Augur. She walked down the corridor and around the corner from Lassiter's office before answering. "Yeah, Augur -- what is it?"

"Lili," he said, "where's Kincaid?"

"At the moment? I have no idea," Lili said, throwing up her left hand, and allowing her frustration to show.

Augur looked grim. "What about Sandoval?"

"He's at the clinic."

Augur somehow managed to look even more grim. He frowned. "Then you'd better get back here. Something happened to the kid." And he disconnected the call.

Lili snapped her global shut with a frustrated sound. "Cryptic, much?" But at least she had a course of action for the moment. Kincaid would be all right on his own for a little longer -- she hoped. She had to find out what had happened to Liam. And since her shuttle would be a bit obvious, and Augur's expression had seemed to indicate a need for haste, she would have to portal over to St. Michael's. She reversed direction and headed for the exit.

As she left the Embassy and headed toward the public portal, Lili noted a commotion a block or so away. She could see the flashing lights of an ambulance near the entrance to the small park where she and Boone sometimes ate lunch when they had to be in Washington during the day. There must have been some sort of accident. Yes, she could see an occupied gurney being loaded into the ambulance; the doors were closed, and the ambulance pulled away. Someone else was having a bad day, she thought, as she waited her turn at the portal.


	6. Chapter 6

Melissa Park hoped she never again had to witness something like what had just happened to little Liam. The tyke had been sitting with Augur when he had suddenly experienced some type of seizure, though not like any seizure that Melissa had ever seen before. At Augur's shout of alarm, she had come running to see the child lying on the floor stiff as a board, shaking, while energy played over his small body and leaked from his shaqarava. And then it had just...stopped. Liam had blinked, cocked his head, and started to cry.

She was at his side in an instant; he threw his arms around her, clinging to her neck and sobbing while she tried to quiet him. All around, Liberation personnel stood or sat turned away from their duty stations, staring, until she glared up at Augur and nodded in their direction. 

Augur himself was still staring at the boy, one hand caught up to his chest, as though he couldn't decide whether to help the boy or ward him off. She dearly hoped it was the former. At her thunderous expression, he blinked, lowered his hand, and cleared his throat. 

"All right, everybody," he announced. "Show's over. Go back to your business." In a lower voice, he asked, "What the hell was that, Doc?"

"I don't know," she replied. "But I think Liam and I are going to go have a talk, right, Liam?" The boy nodded, not raising his face from her shoulder. "Can you walk, or do you need me to carry you?"

He sniffled. "'M not a baby. I c'n walk."

"All right, then. C'mon with me. Do you want Augur to come?"

The boy shook his head. "No. I want Mama."

Melissa exchanged looks with Augur. "Oh, tiger. Your mama and papa are both very busy right now and can't get away to come home. You come with me so I can make sure you're all right, okay?"

Liam nodded.

Melissa eased out of her crouch and led the boy back to the medical section, boosting him up onto the exam table that Major Kincaid had occupied overnight. She did a quick physical check; heart, lungs, pupils. All seemed normal. The boy had stopped crying and watched her curiously while she examined him.

She slung her stethoscope around her neck. "Can you tell me what happened, Liam?"

The boy shrugged. "Not sure."

"Has anything like this ever happened before?" She knew the answer to that, of course; if anything like this had _ever_ happened before, she and Julianne Belman would both know about it.

As expected, Liam shook his head.

Melissa pursed her lips, then turned around and leaned against the exam table so that she was next to him instead of in a confrontational pose. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned sideways a little to bump the boy's shoulder with her own. "Can you tell me about it?"

For a second, it seemed like it wasn't going to work, but then Liam said, "Something's wrong with Major Kincaid."

Melissa's brows rose. "The major? How do you know?"

Liam slanted a look at her, green eyes peering out from behind a mop of brown hair. "We're connected." He tapped his palm against the side of his head. "In here."

Several different things went through Melissa's mind at once and she shoved them all aside to think about later. "Did the same thing that happened to you happen to the major?"

The boy's face crumpled and he nodded miserably. "On'y it was worse for him, an' I was tryin' to help, and he...he...he closed his head, so I couldn'!" He started to cry again.

Melissa slung an arm around Liam, and he turned his face into her side and put his arms around her waist. His shoulders shook with his sobs, while she stood there and just held him. After a few minutes his crying slowed, then stopped. She continued to hold him, though, until he released her waist and pushed away. Then she pulled a tissue from her pocket and handed it to him.

Liam mopped at his face, then looked up at Melissa. His eyes were red and swollen, and, despite his efforts with the tissue, his face was still sticky. He crumpled the tissue in his hand. "Can we help Major Kincaid?"

A hint of movement caught Melissa's attention; Lili Marquette was hovering outside the medical cubicle, Augur at her side. She signaled them with her free hand: _wait_. Lili leaned back against Melissa's desk, her arms crossed, her eyes worried. Augur sat down next to her.

"Do you know what happened to the major after he...closed his head?" she asked gently.

Liam shook his head. "Not exac'ly. But it hurt him. It hurt him way more than it hurt me."

Melissa didn't like the sound of that. "Do you know where he is now?"

Liam cocked his head. His eyes unfocused momentarily; when he refocused on her, he shook his head sorrowfully. "It's dark. I can't find him in the dark."

_Unconscious,_ Melissa translated. "Do you know where he was before that?"

Liam nodded enthusiastically. "In the sun," he said with a wistful little smile. Liam had never seen the sun because they had to be so careful about the possibility of the Taelons finding him. The Liberation headquarters was impervious to Taelon scans, so he was safe here. "He wasn't feeling good, so he sat down in the sun."

On the other side of the glass, Lili straightened and quietly said something to Augur, who returned to his computer and started typing.

"Okay, Liam," Melissa said. "I want you to stay out here with us for a little while. I want to make sure you're okay before you go back to your schoolwork with Miriam, all right?"

"Okay, M'lissa." She helped him down from the exam table. He looked up at her. "It's going to happen again," he said, his voice, as it sometimes did, taking on an older tone and cadence, while remaining utterly the voice of a little boy. It was unnerving. "The universe doesn't want him. But he wants it to only hurt him. He won't let it hurt me, if he can stop it. But stopping it makes it hurt him more. He has a picture of a lady in his head. It happened to her, too, and he's afraid it'll happen to us."

Melissa patted his shoulder. "Then we'll have to see if we can find him and help him." She walked out of the little exam cubicle; Liam's tutor Miriam, a serious older teen who also lived full time in the headquarters, was waiting nearby. "Ah, Miriam. I'd like you to stay out here with Liam for a little while just to make sure he's okay. Why don't you take him into the conference area?" She took two lollipops from the jar on her desk -- a joke from Augur -- and handed the green one to Liam and the purple one to Miriam. After they were safely away, she joined Lili and Augur at the latter's computer station. "Did you find him?"

Lili shook her head. "Not yet. What happened?"

Melissa shrugged. "I'm not certain." She lowered her voice. "But I'm sure you heard Liam say that it happened to Major Kincaid, too. Apparently they have a mental connection, but the major shut Liam out to protect him."

Augur looked thoughtful. "Well, they _are_ technically the same person, and we know that they have psychic abilities, so it would make sense that they'd be linked in some fashion."

"So _that's_ what that was all about," Lili said, comprehension appearing on her face. At the others' puzzled looks, she said, "That's right; we didn't have a chance to call. The Taelons are all a-flutter about a Kimera; they can sense him through the Commonality, just like Ha'gel. If Liam and Major Kincaid are linked, they must have a Commonality of their own, and that must be what the Taelons are sensing."

"And they haven't sensed Liam before this because he was alone," Melissa murmured. "Yes, that makes sense." 

"So was that seizure some sort of attack by the Taelons through the Commonality?" Augur asked.

"I don't think so," Melissa said. "Liam said that the universe didn't want Major Kincaid. We know that he comes from another dimension. My uneducated guess, given that quantum physics is not my field, would be that the very fabric of the universe is trying to repel him -- to drive him out. Liam also said that the major had a picture of a woman in his head, and that the same thing had happened to her. It might explain why he was trying to protect Liam during the seizure."

"He what?" Lili said in surprise.

"Liam said that the major 'closed his head' -- probably erected some sort of mental barrier to shield Liam from whatever was happening," Melissa replied. She frowned and tapped her lip while she considered the major's behavior.

Augur already light years ahead, nodded. "It does fit," he said. "Look. The major said he went dimension-hopping once before, right? So if the lady in his head came back with him from her dimension to his, and she ran into her counterpart in _his_ dimension, it would make sense that they could not both be in the same dimension at the same time." He mimed an explosion. "Poof."

An expression of alarm crossed Lili's face and she shot a look over her shoulder toward the conference area where Liam and his tutor had their heads together over some papers spread out on the table. "If that's the case," she hissed, "then we have to get him out of here before something happens!"

Augur favored her with one of him most unimpressed stares. "He's not a bomb, Lili. It should be safe enough if we keep them apart -- right, Doc?"

Melissa nodded. "I should think so. For a time, at least."

"So to recap, then," Augur said, raising a thumb. "First, we have to obtain and repair the major's shuttle." He raised his forefinger. "Then, we have to find the major, who is probably unconscious somewhere, but we don't know where -- likely a hospital," he said, indicating the search running on his computer. He raised a second finger. "Third, we have to do this before the Taelons find him because they'll kill him."

"Or worse," Lili muttered.

"Or worse," Augur agreed. He raised another finger. "And we have to do all of this while Boone and Sandoval and Beckett are pretending that none of them -- but especially Beckett, who has been missing for months -- have been running around behind the Taelons' backs working for the Liberation." He looked at his fingers, then back at Lili. "Did I miss anything?"

"Yeah," Lili said. "You missed the part where the major's shuttle is now on the mothership."

"Piffle," Augur said. "That one is easy enough; you'll fly up there and get it."

"Uh huh," Lili said, skeptically. She cocked her head. "What's that, Da'an? What happened to the shuttle I brought down from the mothership, and why wasn't I flying my own shuttle? Would you believe that I had to let an interdimensional Liberation fighter use it to return to his home dimension so that he wouldn't destroy the part-Kimera child that you know nothing about?"

Augur grinned. "There. That wasn't so hard, was it?" He ducked the smack Lili aimed in his direction.

Melissa smiled at their antics but sobered quickly. One thing was certain. They had to find the major -- before the Taelons did.

Lili's global beeped. Melissa watched as she stepped away to answer it; how often had she done the same dance herself, to position the visual pickup so that it concealed her location from the caller? At the end of the short conversation, she stepped back. 

"That was Boone. I've been summoned to take Da'an to the clinic," she said. "He wants to see Siobhan and talk to Julianne. I hope they're done."

"Do they need me?" Melissa asked. This part -- the recovery of the missing Lieutenant Beckett -- was crucial. If any part of it went wrong, all of them could be uncovered as Liberation agents. All of them could be implanted with new CVIs with properly functioning motivational imperatives. That would be the end of the Liberation. They had even gone so far as to rehearse potential scenarios, one of which would be playing out at the clinic even now.

Lili shook her head. "Boone says Julianne has it covered." She turned to Augur. "Let me know when you find Kincaid." 

He held up a finger as his computer beeped. "Found him. Washington General. Hasn't been admitted; still in the emergency department. Looks like he's unconscious. They're busy, though, so it may be a while before they can process him."

"Lassiter had Volunteers following him -- do they know where he is?"

Augur's fingers played over his keyboard. "No. Looks like they lost him. But it won't take them long to pick him up again."

Lili chewed her lip as she thought. They had to get him out of there. "All right, here's what we'll do. I'll ferry Da'an to the clinic then go get Kincaid; if necessary, I'll tell Da'an I have a lead on the Kimera. If the Volunteers show up in the meantime, I'll pull rank."

"And where will you take him?" Augur asked. "And what if he's still unconscious?"

"Well, he can't come here," Lili said. "Do you have a suggestion?"

Augur shrugged. "I do, actually. Take him to the warehouse. I can look after him for a while."

"You could also take him to the clinic," Melissa suggested. "Julianne could look him over and make sure he's all right."

Lili sighed. "That could get tricky, with Da'an there. But," she agreed, "it might be best. Do we have anyone at the hospital that could keep an eye out for Volunteers?"

Augur shook his head. "They're sluggards, though, they won't find him for a while, and I'll throw up some blocks."

"Okay." Lili pushed away from the desk where she had been leaning after taking her call. "I'm off. Da'an, then Kincaid. I'll try to let you know where we end up."

Melissa didn't feel that she needed to tell Lili how Augur watched her appreciatively as she walked away.

~*~*~

Having finished the diagnostics on the controls and found nothing wrong, other than the mild glitch in the logs, Shannon moved to the back of the shuttle and pulled off the access hatch over the interdimensional drives. She wrinkled her nose at the acrid tang of burned components. There was definitely a problem here.

She leaned into the access port, absently tossing her braid back over her shoulder, and saw the problem almost immediately. There was an unknown device fused into the drive conduits. 

"What the heck is that?" She retrieved her scanner to see if she could get any readings from the remains of the device.

She ran several scans, then plugged the scanner into her computer to download the data to a screen she could actually read, as opposed to the tiny one on the scanner -- smaller than even a global screen. Clearly not designed by the people who were going to be using it, she thought, irritated as always by the inefficiency.

Once the download was done, she settled cross-legged with her back to the still-open access port, and pulled the computer into her lap. The scan data filled the screen and she frowned. "That can't be right."

The scans indicated that the shuttle was slightly out of phase with the Mothership. Not enough to really cause difficulties -- probably, anyway -- but enough to be... _weird._ Like everything else about this shuttle. She shook her head, wondering if she needed to recalibrate the scanner. With a sigh, she clambered to her feet, took the scanner to the next shuttle in line and ran a few basic scans, returning to the damaged shuttle to feed the data into her computer.

These scans were fine.

She frowned, then pulled the two sets of scans up and put them side by side. For the most part, they were similar, but when it got to the molecular level, they were clearly different. Her eyes were drawn to the access hatch for the ID drive. She put the computer down and leaned into the access port again, looking at the slagged device. 

She frowned again. The logs said the shuttle had left from the Mothership, but traffic control had no record of it. It had appeared suddenly from ID space. The pilot -- who did not exist -- had landed at the Washington embassy and apparently gone about his business. Its molecules resonated at the wrong frequency. There was a device of unknown origin attached to the ID drive....

To the _interdimensional_ drive.

Shannon stared in shock at the half-melted device as her mind made the connection. 

"No way!" she breathed. "No freakin' way!"

~*~*~

There were sounds. At first, they were meaningless, but as seconds passed, they resolved into voices that overlapped, interrogatory notes interspersed with comforting sounds, overlaid by snapped commands. As he tried to sort the voices out, he became aware that a couple near at hand were speaking about him.

'...some sort of seizure, brought in unconscious from a park near the Taelon embassy. ID indicates that he's a Companion Protector." A man's voice.

"Did you scan for a CVI?" A woman. "Could be a problem there."

The man replied. "Not yet. We haven't had time to do anything other than make sure he's stable and start standard processing procedures; DNA results should be back shortly. It's been a busy day with that drive-by."

There was a sigh. The woman sounded tired when she said, "You'd think the Taelons could've helped with the gangs, too."

"Maybe they think we can manage those on our own."

"Maybe. All right, Charlie. Let's take a look."

Liam blinked his eyes open. At first he saw only a vaguely white blur, but as he blinked again, it resolved into a tiled ceiling. Fluorescent lights shone down on him from every third tile. He was in a small space, little more than a cubicle. A hospital? 

"He's awake," the man said.

A woman moved into his field of vision. She was in her mid-thirties, blonde, wearing a white coat over pale blue scrubs. A nametag on the coat's left pocket said "Dr. Curzon." 

"Major Kincaid," she said, "can you hear me?"

He made an affirmative noise. "Wha' happened? Where 'm I?"

"You're in the emergency room at Washington General Hospital, Major Kincaid. You had a seizure; you've been unconscious for nearly an hour. Your identification says that you're a Companion Protector. Do you have a CVI?" She spoke slowly, enunciating clearly, as though she didn't expect him to understand her.

Liam's mind, however, was clearing rapidly. He shook his head. "No. No CVI." He gave her the same explanation he had given Lassiter earlier. "Not Companion Protector. ID's from Halloween. Grabbed the wrong wallet this morning."

"All right." The doctor appeared to accept his explanation. "Has this happened before, Mr. Kincaid?"

He considered what answer would get him out of the hospital the quickest. Should he admit to an imaginary seizure disorder and say that he'd forgotten his medication as well as the proper wallet, or should he plead ignorance and skip out while they were off doing tests? Could he afford to let them start tests? His brainwave pattern would not be on file at all, and he definitely couldn't let them do any DNA testing. He was as sore again as he had been that morning, and somehow, he had a feeling that Dr. Park had been wrong. It wasn't the result of being knocked into a wall by a skrill blast. He was phasing. This dimension was trying to either integrate or repel him. It was too soon -- Maiya had been in his dimension for months before she had started phasing, and he had not even been here twenty-four hours yet. 

And if _he_ was phasing, what was happening to his young counterpart? He vaguely remembered trying to shield the boy, but had no idea whether he had succeeded or not.

"Mr. Kincaid?" the doctor pressed when he remained silent a little too long. 

Liam shook his head. There was no good answer here. "No," he said. "Never."

The doctor sighed. "All right, Mr. Kincaid. I want you to rest here for a bit. We're going to have to run some tests to see if we can tell what happened."

"Okay," Liam said agreeably, falling back on the character of the Taelon fan that he had already played once today. He needed to get out of here, and he needed the doctor and her rather large nurse to leave him alone for a little while so he could. He was lucky that they hadn't admitted him; he was still dressed, so he wouldn't have to go hunting for clothes; he could just get up and walk out. Other than the aches, which were starting to fade into the background, and the headache -- which he suspected he was probably just going to have to endure -- he felt well enough. Enough, at least, that his sense of urgency was back. He needed to get out of here. He needed to find out what had happened to Siobhan. He needed to get to his shuttle and repair it.

Dr. Curzon's eyes narrowed a bit as she met his, as if she didn't quite believe his aquiescence, then she nodded. "You seem to be feeling better, Mr. Kincaid, but if you need anything, hit the call button, okay?"

"Okay," Liam said again. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," the doctor said, with a faint air of surprise. Liam suspected she didn't hear that as often as she might. She and the nurse left, but Liam stayed where he was, listening to the sounds of the hospital, until he was certain that there wasn't anyone near him. Then he swung his legs down off the bed, standing slowly. Even though he was certain he was recovered from the phasing episode -- or as recovered as he was going to get -- he didn't want to get up too fast and end up on the floor. He wanted to be the disappearing patient, not the patient who was being watched so that he didn't wander off.

So far, so good, though; he felt fine upon standing, so he eased his head around the doorway. No one nearby -- another point to him.

Following the signs on the walls, he walked out--

\--right into Lili Marquette.

"Going somewhere?" she asked, with a raised eyebrow.


	7. Chapter 7

Dr. Julianne Belman was always surprised by how _present_ Da'an appeared. Whenever she saw the Taelon on television or spoke to him via datastream, he seemed rather ethereal, a being of mist and shadows caught in the light. But in person, he gave the impression of solidity and power with a laser-like focus that could catch any least deviation from the truth. She sometimes felt like a naughty child speaking to him, and if there was one thing Julianne was not, it was a _child_. If her understanding of Taelon aging was correct, in fact, she and Da'an were both in the middle portion of their lifespans, so they were the same comparative age -- even if Da'an was already a couple of millenia old with at least a couple more in him. The effect was even more pronounced when the backdrop was the Taelon embassy with its throne-like chair, blue and violet surfaces, and weird plants. It always made her unaccountably nervous, and sometimes she wondered if one of these days she would lose her grasp on the tales she had to spin, with disastrous results both for her personally and for the Liberation as a whole.

Fortunately, this meeting was on her home turf. The clinic was her stronghold, and here, she was the authority. That made her feel strong, rooted in her space like an oak in the center of the forest. With that secure grounding, she felt much less like she would lose the many threads in her hands.

Captain Marquette had escorted the Taelon into the clinic, leaving him in Julianne's company, before hurrying off on another errand. At the moment, they were in the observation area adjacent to one of the implantation rooms. Da'an stood at the window gazing at the recumbent form of Siobhan Beckett apparently asleep on the bed, while Julianne spun her tale. Boone and Sandoval stood at the back of the room, silent and still.

"Physically," she said, "Lieutenant Beckett is in good health. All of her vital signs are at or near her baseline measurements. Wherever she has been, she has been well cared for."

Da'an cocked his head, and turned his gaze on Julianne. "And mentally? Have you had the opportunity to test her implant?"

"Yes, Da'an. We had to sedate her immediately after she was brought in and that was the first test we ran. It appears that her CVI was tampered with in some manner. Somehow the character of this woman Sharon Best was imposed on the lieutenant's psyche."

"Who could do such a thing?"

Julianne shrugged, as if the question was of no import. "With the right equipment, any competent CVI technician could probably do it."

"Then our suspects number in the hundreds."

"At the very least."

Da'an gestured thoughtfully. When his hands stopped, he turned to Boone. "Still, you must attempt to find -- what is the human expression? The needle in the haystack? We cannot have someone thinking that they can simply steal away our Companion Protectors."

Boone inclined his head. "I will redirect the search from Lieutenant Beckett herself to her abductors."

"After," Da'an said, raising a graceful hand, "you have found the Kimera-spawn." He turned back to Julianne. "Doctor, is it possible to tell if the lieutenant has borne a child?"

"A child?" Julianne asked, surprised. "I accessed the lieutenant's medical history when she was brought in. She has never been pregnant, and she has not been missing long enough to have had a child in the interim."

"There is the possibility that Lieutenant Beckett was impregnated by Ha'gel," Da'an declared. 

"Ha'gel?" Julianne echoed. She directed a puzzled glance in Boone's direction. "The creature that wounded Commander Boone?"

"The same," Da'an replied. "The Commonality has once more become aware of a Kimera. As Ha'gel was the last of his kind, and as he is dead, the only possibility is that he was able to reproduce prior to his death. Such a hybrid child would have had an accelerated gestation and growth."

Julianne frowned. "But would Ha'gel have been able to tamper with Lieutenant Beckett's CVI in the manner we found?"

Da'an blinked slowly. "It is possible. The lieutenant would have been necessary to care for the child." He turned to Commander Boone. "Has Agent Lassiter discovered the identity of the young man with whom Lieutenant Beckett was apprehended?"

Boone's eyes widended. "You think _he_ could have been the Kimera-spawn?"

Julianne had the sensation of the various threads in her hands being yanked violently out of the pattern she had been attempting to weave. Still, better that the Taelons' attention be on this unknown -- and hopefully long gone -- person than on the lieutenant's actual Kimera-hybrid son. Or so she thought until she caught the troubled glance that Sandoval, so far lurking in the back of the room like a storm crow, cast her way while Da'an's attention was on Boone. She minutely raised a brow at him, and he shook his head with the tiniest of frowns before his expression smoothed back into impassivity.

Wonderful. A random thread. She hated it when she had to improvise. It was too easy to get caught out that way, and it was obvious that she was missing something important, probably to do with the young man in question.

Well, the easiest way through was to forge onward. She waited until Boone and Da'an were finished, and Da'an's attention was once more on her. 

"There are tests I can run, Da'an," she said, "but it will take time to get the results back."

"The time is not important if it leads to certainty," Da'an replied. "Please run your tests, Doctor. When do you believe that the lieutenant will be able to return to duty?"

Julianne hesitated, as if considering. "I've returned her CVI to its baseline parameters, and she's otherwise healthy, so it will depend on her mental state when she awakens. If she's all right, it could even be in a few hours, though I would recommend waiting until tomorrow."

Sandoval spoke up for the first time. "Da'an," he said in respectful tones, "The lieutenant's previous assignment has been filled, and the UK Companion appears to be pleased with the new Protector. Where will the lieutenant be placed?"

Da'an's right hand rose as the Companion cocked his head at Sandoval. The three humans unconsciously held their breaths, waiting to see if the Taelon recognized anything out of the ordinary in the question. "She will be assigned to me, at least for the moment," he finally replied. "You and Boone have both worked with her in the past, and I do not anticipate that you will have any difficulties doing so in the future. Once she has returned to duty, if the Kimera-spawn remains at large, then perhaps she will have a different perspective on how to capture it."

"Capture?" Boone questioned softly. "Have our orders changed, Da'an?"

Da'an's expression did not alter, though his hands expressed something Boone did not quite catch. He was only beginning to understand that Taelons communicated with their hands as much as in other ways. "Do you not think it would be wise to study such a creature if we can, rather than destroy it outright?"

"If that is what you believe, then that is what we will do, Da'an," Boone replied.

Da'an inclined his head, then turned back to Julianne, who stood to one side, waiting patiently. "Run your tests, Doctor. Inform me -- and only me -- when the lieutenant regains consciousness."

"Of course, Da'an. If you'll excuse me, gentlemen." At the door of the room, she turned back. "You gentlemen are welcome to stay, of course, but privacy is traditional for gynecological exams, so...." She was amused to see both Boone and Sandoval redden a bit -- men! Da'an merely nodded graciously.

"Of course, Doctor. Please keep us informed of the results. Commander Boone will remain here in case you require assistance with the lieutenant." Boone acknowledged the order with a polite nod.

"Certainly, Da'an. The commander can wait here." She and Boone watched Sandoval and Da'an as they headed toward the exit, then turned the other way to round the corner and enter the implantation room where Siobhan waited. She brought up the lights and activated the privacy blinds on the observation windows, then thumbed the tiny jammer in her pocket, moving to the side of the implantation table as she did.

"All right," she said, fixing Boone with a glare as Siobhan cautiously opened her eyes, "what is this about a young man and a Kimera-spawn?"

~*~*~

"Lili! Thank God. Where is Siobhan? Is she all right?"

The look of relief that crossed Kincaid's face when he recognized her touched something in Lili. She might not necessarily trust him, but she could tell that _he_ trusted _her._ That he immediately then asked after Beckett's well-being only inclined her more toward both liking and trusting him.

Lili gave him a quick once over; he appeared to be all right. Maybe a bit more worn-looking than earlier in the day, but steady on his feet, at least. He seemed to have recovered almost as quickly as Liam had, which was fortunate, since she had been counting on that. Getting the hospital to release an unconscious man into her custody would not have been either easy or quick, even with her authority as a Companion agent.

"Not here," she said, glancing around. She didn't see any sign of Volunteers; it appeared that they still hadn't caught up to him. "Come with me." She turned and headed for the far end of the parking lot where she had left her shuttle. 

"Okay," Kincaid agreed and fell in beside her, not saying anything until they had climbed into the shuttle and the virtual glass had been raised.

Lili twisted in the pilot's seat so she could face him. "What happened to you?"

Kincaid shrugged. "Something I wasn't expecting."

Lili frowned impatiently. They didn't have time for this. He couldn't afford to keep secrets, and they couldn't afford to _let_ him keep secrets. "Well, whatever it was," she said, with calculated cruelty, "it affected our Liam, too."

Kincaid winced as though she had actually struck him. He closed his eyes briefly; when he reopened them, he looked older. Haunted, somehow. He sighed. "I know. I'm sorry."

Lili's eyes narrowed as she realized something. "You knew it might happen."

His shoulders slumped as he nodded. "Yes. When I traveled between dimensions before, a woman named Maiya came back with me to my own dimension. Everything seemed fine, then after a couple of months, she started to have these...seizures. We found out that she had a counterpart in our dimension, Isabel, and the seizures were the result of the universe trying to right the imbalance they created."

"What happened?"

"Eventually, Isabel and Maiya merged. Maiya survived with both of their memories, but Isabel died."

"And you didn't mention this before because?" Lili asked sharply.

Kincaid shrugged again. "I assumed I'd be gone long before it became a factor. It took weeks for Isabel and Maiya. I haven't even been here twenty-four hours yet."

Lili nodded acceptance of that logic. She probably wouldn't have said anything, either. "So why so soon?"

"There are two possibilities. One is that this universe is much closer to my own, so I'm correspondingly closer to Liam. Plus, Siobhan took me to meet him this morning, and Isabel and Maiya were never in the same physical space until right before the merging. The other is that it's because we're part-Kimera." Kincaid lowered his head. Closed his eyes. She saw his shoulders heave as he let out a silent sigh. He looked up and locked his eyes on hers. "Lili, if it comes down to it, I will die before I allow my presence here to harm your Liam."

She stared at him, surprised at the pledge. She realized that she would never have expected such a thing; while she had accepted as true that Kincaid was a Companion Protector and a Liberation member, knowing that he was only as old as the child with whom she was so familiar, she couldn't help thinking of the grown man sitting in her shuttle as the little boy who still had to be bribed with a lollipop to see the doctor. If this was the sort of man their little Liam was going to grow up to be, then there really was hope that he could resolve the conflict between humans and Taelons, just as Beckett and Sandoval maintained.

"Mind you," he said wryly, as she realized she had been staring a little too long, "that's not my _first_ choice."

"No," she said, clearing her throat. "Of course not." She twisted back to face the front of the shuttle and waved up the controls. 

"Where are we going?" Kincaid asked. She heard him fastening his seat restraints.

"To Dr. Belman's clinic," she said. "I have to pick up Da'an and ferry him back to the embassy; he wanted to see Siobhan in person. I am hoping that we'll be able to get a word in with the others, since we need a plan. Your shuttle has been taken to the Mothership; we need to figure out how to get it back...among other things." 

"Which other things?" Kincaid asked suspiciously.

"Oh, you know, things like what to do now that the Taelons are aware of your presence."

Kincaid said a word that would have earned little Liam a laugh from Augur, a raised eyebrow from Sandoval, and a strong reprimand from his mother.

Lili's only response was, "Going interdimensional."

~*~*~

There was no answer when Liam knocked softly on the door of Dr. Belman's office, so he opened it and slipped inside, finding it little different from his own Dr. Belman's office. Lili had landed the shuttle behind the clinic and told Liam to wait until she was inside, then sneak into the clinic himself. She was hoping that Da'an would leave either Boone or Sandoval behind with Siobhan; that way, Liam could reconnect with the Liberation. If not, Dr. Belman could see that he got back to the church.

Liam settled into one of the visitor chairs in front of the doctor's desk and waited. After a couple of minutes, he got up to browse her bookshelves. He pulled a thick dictionary from the shelf and amused himself by reading the entries. He was up to D when the door opened and Dr. Belman -- fortunately alone -- walked in.

He looked up from the dictionary, a deer in the headlights expression on his face. She, equally startled, stopped short just inside the door, her hand rising to clutch her chest.

"What are you doing in here?" she demanded after a moment of them eyeing each other in surprise.

As with the other people he had met, she was not much different from her counterpart, Liam saw. Short dark curls, no-nonsense attitude, a purple lab coat covering her nice suit.

His pulse slowing, he closed the book. "Waiting for you, actually." He rose, setting the book down on the chair, and held out his hand. "I'm Liam Kincaid."

"Oh! Our interdimenstional traveler, of whom I have heard very little," she said in a somewhat sour tone. She shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Julianne Belman...which you probably already know."

He nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Did Lili have a chance to speak to you?"

"No, but I have just had an interesting conversation with Siobhan and Boone, and I would like a chance to talk to you, if you wouldn't mind. Are you hungry? I haven't had lunch yet."

Liam realized that he was famished -- his breakfast had been early and he had expended a lot of energy during his seizure. "Yes," he answered fervently.

She laughed. "It should be safe enough for you to come to the cafeteria with me." She looked at him critically. "Maybe...yes, leave your jacket behind, the leather is memorable. And if anyone asks, you're my nephew Jimmy, visiting from Michigan. And since you're my nephew, you had best call my by my first name." 

"Okay," Liam agreed easily, removing his jacket and draping it over the chair. He put the dictionary back on the shelf. "Do you actually have a nephew Jimmy?"

"Of course," Julianne said. She opened the door and gestured for him to precede her into the hallway. "The thing you have to remember, Liam, about telling lies, is to mix enough of the truth into them to make them easy for you to remember them, too."

Liam's lips quirked. "You mean like taking the name of a dead man who happens to have the same first name as you do and to also be of Irish extraction?"

"Exactly. You don't have to worry about learning not to turn when someone calls your real name." She didn't say anything more, but he had a feeling she would be researching this world's Liam Kincaid later.

"But what if your nephew Jimmy walks in while we're having lunch?" Liam asked curiously as they walked down the hallway.

"Then we improvise," Julianne said. "But since he's currently doing a semester abroad in Paris, that seems unlikely." 

There were only a couple of tables occupied in the cafeteria, and no one spoke to them. They quickly got lunches -- the doctor paid, since Liam didn't have a cash card -- and took them back to Julianne's office. While they ate, Julianne asked questions about Liam's general health. He explained about the seizure he'd had earlier so that she and Dr. Park could make sure that his young counterpart had no lasting ill effects. She made a note to have Augur access the computers at Washington General and erase the record of his visit. 

"How are you feeling now?"

He shrugged. "I still have the headache and general aches, but they're not as bad as they were."

"Given what your body has been through in the last day, I'm really not surprised that you don't feel well. I hope that when you get back to your own dimension, you can take the time for some rest."

"I can try, but it will depend on Jonathan and Da'an. I was on my way to a meeting at the church when the accident happened. Da'an, I am sure, will give me time, but Jonathan seems to think that any time free from Da'an belongs to him. Even though he doesn't like me at all, I think he gets nervous when he doesn't know exactly where I am and what I am doing." Liam paused. "Or maybe it's _because_ he doesn't like me."

Julianne frowned. "I can see where that might get exhausting." She glanced at her watch. "All right. Time's up; if Siobhan were actually sedated, she would be waking up around now, so I'll just go get her and Boone. You wait here."

Liam nodded. She bustled out and returned a few minutes later with Siobhan and Boone. As soon as the door closed, Siobhan embraced Liam. Boone remained standing with his back against the door. 

"I'm so glad you're all right," Siobhan said. "I was worried about you."

_"You_ were worried about _me?"_ Liam asked. "I wasn't the one they were looking for!"

"You are now."

Liam looked at Boone in trepidation. Lili had said something to that effect earlier, then refused to say anything other than, "You'll have to talk to Boone or Sandoval."

"What do you mean?"

"The Taelons," Boone said, "have felt the presence in the Commonality of what they have described to their loyal implants as a 'Kimera-spawn,' and they have commanded those loyal implants to hunt it down and destroy it. Though Da'an, at least, has changed the order from 'destroy' to 'capture.'"

Liam paled and sank into a chair. His memories from Ha'gel -- and his human parents, for that matter -- showed him exactly what that entailed. This was worse than he had expected; he had thought that the Taelons would only be looking for a missing shuttle pilot, not the scion of their feared enemy. Siobhan reached out and squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry, Liam. Boone, Sandoval and I are the assigned hunters. You have naught to fear from us."

"It's not me I'm worried about," Liam said. "It's your Liam, Siobhan. We _do_ have a connection to the Commonality. It's slight, but it's there. My presence must have amplified it enough that they could feel it."

"Can they use it to track the boy?" Boone asked urgently. "Is the Liberation base safe?" His global was in his hand, ready to call.

Liam shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I think the boy is safe. From the Taelons, anyway."

Siobhan frowned. "What do you mean by that, Liam?"

"Did...did no one tell you?"

"Tell me what?" 

"We haven't really had a chance, Liam," Julianne interjected. "We've been a bit busy ourselves, which is doubtless why no one thought to tell me about you _before_ Da'an arrived." The last was directed at Boone, who winced, but remained silent.

Liam sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I see your point." He met Siobhan's eyes and for the second time that afternoon told the story of Maiya and Isabel. Then, without going into too many details, he told her about his own seizure, about attempting to shield her son from the worst effects of it, and of waking up in a hospital some time later.

Siobhan listened to the story in silence, and when Liam was finished, Julianne handed her a global on which Melissa Park was already waiting. Liam hadn't even heard her place the call, but one did get used to ignoring other people's global conversations. He eavesdropped unashamedly this time, though; he wanted to make sure the boy was all right, too.

"He's fine, Siobhan," Melissa said firmly. "He was a little traumatized at the time, but he's back at his schoolwork like nothing happened."

"Has Sandoval been informed?" Siobhan asked.

"It's been taken care of."

Siobhan nodded. "Very well. Thank you, Melissa." She closed the global and handed it back to Julianne. She squared her shoulders, her expression settling into her Companion Protector mask. Liam, remembering his own mother, found the sight heartbreaking -- and it was his fault. She would not have been in the park except for him. "So," she said, "What do we do next?"

Liam quickly considered options. He had not been exaggerating when he told Lili that he would die to keep young Liam safe. He would. But if they were careful, it shouldn't be necessary. Lili had said his shuttle was aboard the Mothership. Therefore, _he_ needed to be aboard the Mothership. And the easiest way to do that....

"You have to turn me over to Da'an," he said.

"What?" The hand holding Boone's global dropped as Boone stared at him in shock.

"No!" Siobhan's hands tightened again on his shoulders. "They'll kill you!"

"Da'an won't," Liam said. "I'm Da'an's protector. I can persuade him to let me go."

"He's not your Da'an," Boone pointed out, closing his global and hooking it back onto his belt.

"No," Liam agreed. "But my Da'an knows exactly who and what I am, and he knows I'm part of the Resistance. And Da'an is Da'an. Even in a dimension so far away from my own as the one I was sent to before, Da'an was still Da'an. In this dimension? Where the DNA scanner to your hidden base had _my_ DNA on file? Da'an will help me."

Siobhan pulled the other chair around so that she could look Liam in the eyes. He was uncomfortably reminded of the time that he had spoken to his own mother in his shuttle, one of the few honest conversations -- well, mostly honest, anyway -- he had been able to have with her before her death. "Explain your reasoning, Liam. Help us see what you have in mind."

"Ehwaz," he said, willing her to understand.

"The rune of transportation," she responded. "Among other things." She considered it, while Boone stood there, watching silently. He had apparently learned to trust Siobhan's intuition, and Liam felt a moment of filial pride, mixed with regret that both of these people were dead in his own world.

"You need your shuttle to get home, obviously," Siobhan said slowly.

"Question," Boone said, raising a finger, the move almost reminiscent of their mutual Companion. For a moment, Liam imagined Boone as a Taelon, then he blinked, and nodded for the protector to continue. 

"Is there any reason you need _your_ shuttle in particular? It's on the Mothership; they monitored the arrival from interdimensional space, noted the erratic flight, and sent a crew to retrieve it from the embassy."

"So Lili said. Good thing I didn't try to sneak in, then, when I was considering it earlier," Liam muttered.

"My point is," Boone continued, "we have access to shuttles. You could use Lili's, for instance."

"Does Paul Chandler exist in your dimension, Commander?" Liam asked. In Liam's home dimension, Paul Chandler had been a frustrated astronaut. After a planned mission to Mars had been scrapped at the insistence of the Taelons, he had tricked Lili into showing him how to pilot a shuttle, then stolen hers, and gone to Mars anyway. She was still fuming about it, especially as she not only was officially reprimanded for the loss, but she then had to modify a new shuttle.

Boone winced. "Yeah. Okay, maybe not Lili's. But there are other shuttles on the ground in D. C."

"What he's trying to say, Liam," Siobhan said, "is that there is no need for you to go to the Mothership at all...unless there is a reason you need your own specific shuttle."

Surprisingly, it was Julianne who spoke up. "I can think of a reason right off. Remember that much of the Taelon technology is based on organic materials. If the living bioslurry of the shuttle is phasing the same way that Liam is, leaving it aboard the Mothership could have serious repercussions. The instability could spread to the whole Mothership. And while I'm hardly a cheerleader for the Taelons, we can no longer afford to have them simply vanish."

"Better not let Jonathan hear you say that." Boone's tone was humorous, but his expression had a darker cast. Everyone in the room knew that Jonathan considered anyone who didn't want the Taelons destroyed traitorous.

Julianne looked like she'd bitten into a lemon. "You let me worry about Jonathan."

Boone shrugged and spread his hands in a backing off gesture. It was totally human and yet also once again reminded Liam of Da'an. Boone's presence had changed Da'an, Liam knew, but it was obvious to him that Boone had also been subtly changed.

"There's another reason," Liam offered. "The trick to getting back to my own dimension is to recreate the route I took to get here. That data is in my shuttle." He paused. "And if Julianne's right about the bioslurry in the shuttle, then it's possible that using our own shuttle was what got Augur and me home before."

"So you do need your own shuttle," Siobhan conceded. "But Liam, we can get you aboard the Mothership. There is no reason for you to go as a prisoner."

"Maybe not," Liam responded. "But it would be better for your Liam and for the Liberation as a whole, if the Taelons thought _I_ was the Kimera-spawn that they're looking for. I can convince Da'an to help me, and even if I can't, once I'm on the Mothership, I can get to my shuttle and get away again. Even if I have to hide the shuttle somewhere to repair the ID drive first, it will still divert the Taelons from Liam. And when I'm gone, the touch of the Kimera on the Commonality will go back to normal levels. And if you're worried about it, get a human psychic to teach Liam how to shield himself."

"What if Da'an can't help you?" Siobhan asked. "What if you are trapped on the Mothership?"

"Siobhan," Liam said, turning his hands over and willing his shaqarava alight, "even if the Liberation were to refuse to help me, do you really think the Taelons can keep me?"

He heard Julianne gasp and Boone groan, but he kept his eyes on Siobhan. She looked up from the light in his palms, meeting his eyes, and nodded. "We do it Liam's way."

"Thank you," Liam whispered, letting his shaqarava go dark.

"Just be careful," Siobhan replied. "Don't be doing anything monumentally stupid."

"You mean stupider than this plan already is?" 

The two of them looked at Boone, who raised his hands innocently. "What? It is -- and you both know it."

"Yeah," Liam responded. "You have anything better?"

Boone shook his head. "Nope."

"That's what I thought."


	8. Chapter 8

Kincaid wanted to put the plan into action immediately, but both Boone and Siobhan objected. They had already talked through and discarded a number of scenarios when Boone said, "Look, kid, I get that you're anxious to go home, but we need to get Siobhan settled first. For your idea to work, we need to establish for certain that she has never had children -- otherwise, the Taelons are going to think that she's been missing for so long because she was your prisoner."

"It's not just that I want to go home," Kincaid protested. "It's that I need to get the heck out of this dimension because I'm putting you all -- but most especially your Liam -- at risk, and I can't do that." He looked at Siobhan and an expression that Boone couldn't decipher crossed his face. "I can't," the kid whispered, and Boone remembered that in his home dimension, Siobhan -- the kid's mother -- was dead.

"He's not in danger in the Liberation headquarters," Siobhan assured him.

"Liam," Julianne said, "I told Da'an that the tests I needed to run on Siobhan would take time. You have to wait until that time has run and I've had a chance to report to Da'an that they came up negative."

"You can come back to the church with us, Liam," Siobhan offered. "One night isn't going to change anything."

Kincaid stubbornly shook his head. "No. I can't go near Liam again, Siobhan. It's too dangerous. Besides, when Jonathan finds out what happened, do you really think he's going to want me anywhere near there? He'll be afraid that we'll blow up the headquarters or something."

"But there's nowhere else you can go," Siobhan replied.

Kincaid looked thoughtful for a moment. "Actually...there might be. My global won't work here -- can one of you call Augur and see if his apartment at the Flat Planet is available? In my own dimension, that's where I live."

"Sure," Boone said to keep the peace. He pulled out his global and placed the call. From the slight delay before Augur picked up, and the featureless background once he did, Boone got the idea that Augur was back at his warehouse home, rather than Liberation headquarters. Just as well -- Jonathan didn't need to know about this. He passed on Liam's request.

On the screen, Augur looked briefly surprised, then said, "Yeah. Have the kid meet me there in half an hour or so."

"It would be better if you came to the clinic and picked him up," Boone replied. "I don't think he should be wandering around openly when the Taelons are looking for him, do you?"

"Yeah, probably not," Augur said. "All right. Have the kid sit tight. I'll be there soon."

"Thanks, Augur. Oh, you wouldn't happen to have a spare global Kincaid can borrow, would you?"

"I'm sure I can come up with something."

Boone closed his global. "There. All set for now." He looked at the other three. "We need to get together with Lili and Sandoval on this, but I really don't think we should let Jonathan in on it. He would go ballistic." His eyes slid to Julianne. He knew that they were together, but he hoped she'd agree.

She shrugged. "He won't hear anything from me."

Boone nodded. "All right, then. Kincaid, you get settled at the Flat Planet, and we'll all meet up with you there around eight."

"Great," Kincaid said. "You can bring pizza."

"Why do _I_ have to bring pizza?"

Kincaid shrugged. "I have no cash in this dimension, either."

Boone sighed. "I'll bring pizza."

~*~*~

Lieutenant Siobhan Beckett walked into the Taelons' Washington D. C. Embassy flanked by Commander William Boone and Agent Ronald Sandoval. She moved with assurance -- some would say arrogance -- her chin up, her expression steely. Embassy staff who had met her previously noted that she seemed none the worse for her several months' long disappearance. Rumors were already flying about what had happened to her in the wake of the hunt for Ha'gel. The most popular one was that she had been kept by the Kimera as a brood mare and that there were any number of half-Kimera hybrids wandering around.

This rumor in particular would have to be quelled, the trio of Companion Protectors knew, but for now, there were more urgent matters to attend to.

The three protectors walked up the ramp to the audience chamber of the North American Companion. They reached the top to find Da'an seated in his throne-like chair in the center of the chamber. Embassy staff had alerted him to their approach; he was watching the doorway expectantly. 

They approached the dais and made the Taelon gesture of greeting and respect, one hand presented outward, the other curled into their chests. 

"Welcome back to us, Lieutenant Beckett," Da'an said in his melodious voice. "Your presence has been sorely missed."

Siobhan dipped her chin in a brief nod. "Thank you, Da'an."

"I trust you are feeling no ill effects from your...indisposition."

"No, Da'an. I am ready to return to duty whenever you give the word."

Da'an blinked slowly. He stood, and Boone moved up to the dais to offer a him a hand down; he nodded his thanks to the commander. "Consider the word given, Lieutenant. However, as the post of protector to the UK Companion has been filled these last months, you will be assigned to the Washington embassy staff. Given the ready availability of shuttles and portals, you may continue to reside in London, or you may move your domicile to Washington if you prefer."

"Thank you, Da'an, that is most kind."

"Commander Boone and Agent Sandoval will assist you in getting settled and in moving, if that is your choice. In the meantime, Agent Sandoval, if you would please show Lieutenant Beckett to her office and explain her duties to her?"

"Of course, Da'an," Sandoval said. "Follow me, Lieutenant."

Siobhan made the gesture of respect again before following Sandoval down the ramp toward the lower levels of the embassy. Boone remained behind.

"So," she said, "what will I be doing? And how close to you will I be doing it?" She smiled as he glanced sharply at her.

"Don't do that," he said softly.

"And whyever not? It's common knowledge that I flirt with you; the staff will be expecting it."

Sandoval sighed. "You're right. Sorry." He exited the ramp at the level below Da'an's audience chamber and waved open a door. Siobhan recognized it as his office. Unlike the security offices deeper in the embassy or Boone's office which was still located in a Taelon-engineered annex to an existing building in his hometown in Ohio, this office and its furnishings were almost fully Taelon. The only concessions to human requirements were the work stations which were similar both to the stations used by the human crew aboard the Mothership and the virtual controls of a shuttle.

There were no personal touches in Sandoval's office; had she not known that it was his from visits prior to the hunt for Ha'gel, she might have thought he was showing her to her own new office. The door reformed behind them, and Siobhan waved her hand to lock it.

"Well, now," she said. "We seem to be alone, Sandoval. What are you going to do about it?"

He didn't smile, but his face lightened, and a spark of something more than his usual impassivity showed in his eyes. He reached out and pulled her close. "I'm going to do this," he said, and kissed her.

Siobhan returned the kiss, pleased. "That is an acceptable response," she said, when the kiss ended. 

They embraced, leaning forehead to forehead, resting for a moment in each other's strength. "How are we going to handle this?" Siobhan asked, at last.

Sandoval sighed. "Carefully," he replied. He moved backward, pulling Siobhan with him, until he was leaning comfortably against his desk. "Very carefully."

Siobhan rolled her eyes. "Oh, indeed? And here I was thinking that I would go running through the embassy stark naked while shouting at the top of my lungs that my CVI is compromised and that you and I have a third-Kimera son living in the headquarters of the Liberation."

Sandoval frowned. "You _could_ do that, I suppose," he said. "I don't know that anyone would really notice."

Siobhan stared at him for a moment, then laughed. 

"What?" he asked, straight-faced.

"Could you have imagined this when we first met?"

He huffed a laugh, remembering how awkward he had been around her clear interest in him after the discovery of Ma'el's mosaic and their search for his tomb. He had still been secretly grieving DeeDee's death and discovering that the MI in his new CVI wasn't as iron-clad as the previous one. "It was my whole aim in coming to Ireland in the first place," he assured her. He sobered. "Liam has to stay underground. At least for now. Maybe in a few months, we can have Augur manufacture a cousin or something who has a child who needs to be adopted."

"Or maybe we will just continue to live underground for as long as it takes to discover the Taelons' true aim here, and why Ha'gel felt the need to hijack the bodies of two Companion Protectors and father a child," Siobhan said.

"Or that," Sandoval agreed.

~*~*~

The Flat Planet was nearly deserted when Liam arrived with Augur. The lunch crowd had come and gone, but it was still too early for happy hour. Liam looked expectantly for Maiya, then mentally kicked himself. She wouldn't be here. Even _Isabel_ wouldn't be here. Come to that, Maiya hadn't worked at the Flat Planet since they had persuaded Sandoval that she had died -- yet another woman the Resistance had had to hide from him. Instead, the bar was tended by Kwai Ling with her silvery wig and glittery makeup. Some things, Liam guessed, were constants. Then he thought about Sandoval and Maiya's husband Jason -- Sandoval's counterpart in that dimension and shook his head minutely. Not for the first time, he wished his father had had the opportunity to be more like Jason. He wondered if the Kimera were aware of alternate dimensions. That was probably one of the things he would have learned had he stepped through the doorway to Shahariath. Too late now. He should know better than to think he'd ever figure out the universe, Kimera heritage or no.

Augur led the way over to the bar. "This is Liam," he said to Kwai Ling. "He'll be staying in the apartment for a while."

Kwai Ling looked Liam up and down. "He religious?"

_Is he Liberation?_ was her actual question, due to the location of the Liberation headquarters.

"As any altar boy," Augur answered. "Liam's from out of town and we're not sure how long he's staying."

Kwai Ling nodded. "I'll let Suzanne know when she comes in." Then she turned to wait on a customer, and Augur led Liam to the door to his apartment.

"Welcome to your home away from home," Augur said as he unlocked the door and flipped on the lights with a flourish. He stepped through and out of Liam's way. 

Liam experienced a weird, unidentifiable feeling stepping into the apartment. Even though he didn't get to spend that much time there, he had never known any other home, so while his mind was telling him he was no safer here than any other place in this dimension, his heart was telling him that he had finally found a refuge and his tension drained away. He was likely far safer from Taelon discovery in the Liberation headquarters thanks to the heavy shielding which blocked even Taelon scans, but that was Jonathan Doors' territory -- and he was acutely aware of what Doors thought of him, since the billionaire had never troubled himself to conceal it. This Doors didn't seem to be any less anti-alien.

A quick glance around told him that the apartment was no different from his own dimension, other than the lack of his belongings -- not that he actually owned much more than some books, clothes, and candles. Still, it was odd not to see in its accustomed spot the Taelon puzzle that Augur had given him in his first few hours.

"Well?" Augur said expectantly. "What do you think?"

"You do know that this is where I live in my own dimension, right?"

"How did that happen?"

Liam sighed. "Jonathan didn't want me in Liberation headquarters because he was afraid that I was part of the Commonality. And there really wasn't room for me at the warehouse. So you set me up here."

"Jonathan means well." Augur's tone indicated more that he thought he should say the words than that he actually believed them.

Nevertheless, Liam gave him a flat stare. "If you're fully human, anyway."

Augur winced. "Yeah, okay, you have a point there. Listen, since we don't know how long term this is going to be, you can stay here for as long as you need to."

"Thanks, Augur," Liam replied gratefully. "I'm hoping to be out of here tomorrow or the next day, but...." He shrugged. "The others are coming this evening about 8:00 to put together a plan. Boone's bringing pizza."

Augur grinned and smacked Liam's arm. "I'll be back later, then. In the meantime, feel free to get a drink or have a snack at the bar. I'll let Kwai Ling know to set up a tab for you."

Liam hesitated. "Augur...I don't have any money."

"Ah," Augur said. "That reminds me." He fished in his pockets and came up with a wallet, which he tossed at Liam. "There are cash cards in there; should be enough to see you through the next week. Don't worry about using them; they're clean. I also took the, ah, liberty of making a drivers license for you with a suitably horrible photo. Now let me see your global."

Liam stowed the wallet in a pocket and handed over his global. Augur opened it and began poking at it. "Doesn't look too different." He settled into a chair and began working on it. Liam took off his jacket and draped it over a different chair, then settled on the couch in the corner. Until he sat down, he hadn't realized how bone tired he was, and his various aches and pains were making themselves known again. His head was pounding. He closed his eyes.

"Kid." A hand on his knee. "Liam."

He opened his eyes, startled, to find Augur crouched in front of him. He looked around, befuddled, before recognizing where he was. "Sorry," he said, straightening up. "Must've dozed off."

Augur looked at him critically. "You okay, kid? You really look like you could use a vacation."

Liam laughed mirthlessly. "You mean this isn't a vacation, Augur? I could've sworn...."

"Yeah, yeah. Okay. Here." Augur handed Liam back his global. "It's working now. I noticed you had some interesting subroutines in there; I copied them for us to use. I've also programmed in a few numbers for you, so you'll be able to reach anyone you might need, including," and here he eyed Liam sharply, "Dr. Park, in case you have another seizure. And, if I can have a vote, please do not. I was with the kid when it happened. You scared him."

Liam closed his eyes. "I tried to protect him."

"He knows, kid. He said that you protecting him made it worse for you. He also said it was going to happen again."

Liam nodded. "Probably. Hopefully not as bad, now that it's happened once, but.... I have to protect him, Augur. I was born into the Liberation and I've been a Companion Protector since I was two days old; I never got a chance to be a child. He has the chance. I have to do everything I can to make sure that that doesn't get taken away from him. I can't let him try to be responsible for me."

Augur nodded. "I get where you're coming from, kid. Just..." He sighed. "Rest. There's nothing more you can do for the moment. You're safe here; just take it easy until the others get here later. Okay?"

"Thanks, Augur. I can always count on you."

Augur gave him a startled look, then a half-grin. "Well, since I _am_ your honorary uncle, that seems only fair." He stood, and his grin widened. "If you behave yourself, maybe I'll take you out to a ballgame, or the zoo."

Liam laughed. "I'll be good, then."

"See that you are, kid. I'll see you later."

Liam gave him a half-wave as he let himself out of the apartment, then relaxed back into the couch. Despite a full night of sleep, he was exhausted. He wondered if this was how Maiya and Isabel had felt. His eyes drifted shut. Half a minute later, he was asleep.

The seizure was minor, just a hint of energy crackling over his sleeping form, and it did not wake him.


	9. Chapter 9

"I don't like it," Jonathan announced.

Siobhan's expression did not waver. She stood before his desk in the office he maintained in the headquarters under the church, her back straight. She refused to allow him to bully her. She had done him the courtesy of reporting to him as soon as she was free to leave the Taelon embassy -- before she had even checked on her son. She knew that he was aware of her arrest this morning, and of her subsequent return to the Taelon fold. She knew that he was aware of Liam's and Major Kincaid's double-seizure. He had already issued a decree that Liam was to remain in their quarters and Major Kincaid, now that he was settled at the Flat Planet, was not to return to Liberation headquarters except in the case of dire emergency -- and nothing, Siobhan knew, would ever satisfy his definition of either term. 

"Surely it can only help to have a fourth spy in the embassy," Siobhan said softly. She also refused to raise her voice around Jonathan, as any displays of temper only played to his towering ego. "We always knew this was a possibility. Fortunately, things played out the way we expected them to. Had I been taken on any of the raids in which I have participated, my CVI might have been reprogrammed before anyone even knew what had happened."

Jonathan waved a hand. "The result of careful and superior planning. You shouldn't have gone out this morning."

"It was early enough that there should have been no danger and we were on our way back. It was only an unlucky break, Jonathan. And, as I said, better now than while on a raid where Belman or Park might not be available."

"All right, fine. I presume you're going to want to continue to live here?"

"Until we can figure out a way to safely integrate Liam into a Companion Protector's life, I'm afraid we're going to have to," Siobhan said. She softened her stance. "I do wish it had turned out otherwise, Jonathan. I don't like leaving my son. You have a son. Surely you understand."

Jonathan's face settled into mournful lines for just a moment as he looked past her. Imagining the face of his son Joshua, Siobhan thought shrewdly. She hadn't invoked him by accident.

"Yes, all right, fine. Just be extra careful; they'll probably be monitoring you for the next little while; don't lead them here."

Siobhan stared at him. Did he really not understand her background in counter-terrorism and espionage? Did he honestly think she didn't know how to spot someone following her? Then she reconsidered. After all Captain Marquette had unintentionally led _her_ straight here. But Captain Marquette hadn't had the same training she had. Her eyes narrowed. Yes, he understood. He was baiting her. "Of course not," she responded, in the same soft tone. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to make sure that my son is all right. I understand that there was an incident this morning."

Not waiting for Jonathan's dismissal, she turned on her heel and exited the room, closing the door gently behind her and very carefully not muttering any derogatory words as she did.

She walked sedately to the quarters she shared with Sandoval and their son. Sandoval maintained an apartment in a very nice building in the city, but at this point, it was mainly a cover. He spent most of his nights here. She would have to consider an apartment of her own. She smiled to herself. Maybe she could rent the Flat Planet apartment from Augur.

She entered the suite to find Sandoval and Liam sitting at the small dining table in the corner, heads were together as they worked on a puzzle. While Liam had several complex three-dimensional Taelon puzzles to play with, when he wanted to include his parents, he preferred jigsaw puzzles. This one looked reasonably complicated. They already had the border together and were working on the interior; it was perhaps a quarter finished.

Liam looked up. "Mama!" He put his arms up, demanding a hug which Siobhan was only too happy to grant. She slung an arm around Sandoval while she was at it, and inspected the puzzle. 

"This is quite the work of art here."

"Do you like it, Mama? It's Ireland!" Liam reached beside his chair and pulled up the lid of the box so that she could see the photograph. It was, indeed, Ireland -- Strandhill stone circle, to be precise, though a slightly different angle than the framed photo hanging on the wall. "Look, it's where you and Papa met!"

Sandoval slanted a look at her; she smiled indulgently. "It is, indeed, where we met." She wasn't certain if either of them had ever mentioned it to the boy, but then, they didn't have to, did they? He had their memories. He would _know_ they had met at Strandhill.

"Can we go there someday?"

"Perhaps someday. When it's safe." A code phrase for "when the Taelons are gone." 

Liam sighed and went back to his puzzle. "Okay."

Siobhan glanced at the clock. It was getting late, but they had a little bit of time before they would have to leave for the Flat Planet. 

"Come over to the couch, Liam," she said. "I'd like to talk to you."

"Okay, Mama." The little boy followed her over to the couch and nestled against her. Sandoval turned his chair so that he could watch them.

"I heard that you had a bit of a scary morning," she said. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

Liam shrugged, wrinkling his face. "It wasn't really me, Mama. It was Major Kincaid."

"Can you tell us what happened, Liam?" Sandoval said, his voice soft. 

The boy made a face. Then, in the oddly adult voice he sometimes used, he said, "He doesn't belong here. The universe was trying to repair the mistake." He looked up at Siobhan. "He needs to go home."

"I know, my lad," Siobhan said, patting his shoulder. "We're trying to help him get home."

"He's afraid," Liam said sadly.

"It's a frightening thing to be so far away from where you belong," Sandoval said, but Liam shook his head.

"No, Papa. That's not why he's afraid. He's afraid that everyone will get hurt because of him. He's afraid that the Taelons will find us, and he's afraid that I'll get hurt. That's why he tried to protect me this morning." He looked critically at his mother. "You should tell him not to do that. It makes it worse for him; I can help him if I share it."

Siobhan exchanged a look with Sandoval. After getting settled at the embassy, she had had a more in-depth conversation with Melissa, who had told her about Major Kincaid attempting to shield Liam from the worst effects of the seizure. She was grateful for his efforts, but clearly, her son did not approve.

"I think," she said slowly, "that this was one of those adult things that perhaps you're not quite ready for yet. Major Kincaid is an adult, and it is the job of adults to protect children. You, my lad, are a child, no matter how clever you are," and she tapped the tip of his nose, making him giggle, "so if Major Kincaid believes that he should protect you, that's what he's going to do."

"Mama!" Liam said in a tone that indicated that he thought she was being silly. "He's the same age as me!"

"Maybe so," Sandoval said. "But he's a grown-up."

"I could be a grown-up."

He said it with such a casual air that Siobhan's breath caught in her throat. She looked at Sandoval and could see the same concern mirrored on his face. Neither of them had any doubt that if Liam took it into his head to become an adult, he would -- and just as quickly as Major Kincaid claimed he had. "Liam, my lad, you're a fine, brave, kind boy to want to help the major. But I want you to think carefully about this. The major told me this morning how happy he is that you get to be a little boy and have school lessons and parents and to be able to play games. He would not want you to give all that up for him."

"I know, Mama. I can feel what's in his head." He patted her hand. "Don't worry, Mama. I'm not ready to be big."

"Well," Sandoval said, an odd note in his voice, "then perhaps you should get back over here and help me with this puzzle."

Liam laughed and pushed himself down off the couch to run the few steps across the room. "Okay, Papa!" The oddly adult tone was gone from his voice.

Siobhan let herself sag for just a moment, while Liam was climbing back into his chair, but straightened before he could see her. She mustn't ever let him know how much she worried sometimes. Ha'gel had told her what the boy was destined for; she wondered if the major was aware of the destiny planned for him.

_Raido_ , she thought. _The rune of communication. The bridge between two species._ Then she remembered that he had it printed on a slip of paper in his wallet. Perhaps he did know.

~*~*~

There was just room at the long, wavy-edged bar table that ran along one side of the room under the second-floor loft for all six of them to sit reasonably comfortably. True to his word, Boone had brought pizza as well as a case of soda, and for a while after they all arrived at Liam's apartment, the only sounds were those of six people eating dinner and making inconsequential conversation. Once the pizza was gone, and the boxes set aside to be taken to the dumpster later, talk turned to the situation at hand.

Not everyone had yet heard Liam's plan to be turned over to Da'an. Not surprisingly, it was met with general disapproval.

"You're a lunatic!" Augur bluntly expressed what seemed to be the prevailing opinion.

Liam grimaced. "Thanks, Augur." He looked around the table. "Look, it's like I told Boone and Siobhan this afternoon. If I can talk to Da'an, I can get him to help me. In my dimension, I'm his protector and he already knows everything there is to know about me. Trust me. I actually do sort of know what I'm doing."

Sandoval raised an eyebrow. "Everything? He knows that you're Kimera? He knows who your human parents are? He knows that you're Liberation?"

"Yes. Everything." He hestitated a moment, then said, "He has been helping me -- as much as he can -- with my Kimera side."

There was a moment of silence in which the others seemed to be communicating silently amongst themselves to judge by the way they kept meeting each other's eyes and wiggling eyebrows. It would no doubt fascinate an anthropologist, Liam thought, then remembered with a pang that that's what his Kimera father's people had been -- anthropologists. And their sympathy for the ancient race now known only as Atavus had led to the present predicament. 

Finally, Lili spoke. "All right, then, assuming everything goes exactly right, and you _do_ get to talk to Da'an -- what then?"

Liam shrugged. "I'll ask him to let me pilot him up to the Mothership, then I'll retrieve my shuttle, and either go home or land it somewhere to repair it, and _then_ go home. Simple."

"And what if things go wrong?" Sandoval asked. He gestured at the other people sitting at the table. "We may not be in any position to help you if something happens."

"Then I'll just--"

Liam's reply turned into a strangled gasp as he suddenly phased. He could _feel_ the universe trying to expel him. Pain seized him and locked his muscles, so that he sat at the table, stiff and straight, while tongues of lightning licked over his body and white light leaked from his shaquarava. He felt the touch of another mind on his. _No_.... He grimly erected a mental shield between himself and the boy, concentrating on it with all that was left to him. He was only dimly aware of voices raised in concern; he barely remembered that there had been other people in the room.

As suddenly as it had begun, it was over. Liam only just managed to catch himself on the edge of the table with his forearms and half-laid there panting, his eyes closed, his fingers opening and closing spasmodically over his shaqarava.

"Liam."

A gentle hand on his shoulder reminded him that he was not alone. He opened his eyes and turned his head to see Siobhan crouching next to him, concern on her face. He slowly pushed himself upright. Everything ached, and he felt so tired.

"I'm okay," he rasped, meeting her eyes. "I'm all right."

Her lips thinned. "That you are not, but I suppose there's little help for it, but to go ahead with this daft plan of yours and get you home."

He closed his eyes and made a noise that might have been a laugh under other circumstances. He looked at Siobhan again. "Is Liam all right?"

Siobhan eased herself back onto the seat next to him. "Sandoval is talking to him right now." She nodded to the other end of the room where Sandoval was speaking quietly on his global. 

Liam noticed for the first time that there was no one else in the room. "Where did everyone go?"

"They're in the café. They'll come back when you're ready."

"Okay." Liam closed his eyes again. His breathing was steadying and his heart was beginning to slow down. He scrubbed a hand roughly over his face. "That," he said, "was unpleasant."

"You did not seem to be enjoying it," Siobhan agreed. "It was certainly...unnerving."

Liam huffed a laugh. "As someone who has also seen it from the outside, I can assure you it's even worse from the inside."

"This is what happened to your friend?"

"Mm-hmm." He remembered how horrified he had been for Maiya after he had witnessed her phasing. And then to find out what would happen to her and Isabel..... 

"You should go," he said, barely above a whisper. "Go check on your son. I'll be all right."

"He's fine," Sandoval said, sliding into the chair across from Liam. "He says that you shielded him again, Major. 'Closed your head,' I believe was the phrase he used. He's very put out with you."

"Can't let him be hurt because of me," Liam said, wearily meeting Sandoval's eyes. "Not if I can help it."

"And we appreciate it." Sandoval glanced at Siobhan. "All right, Major. It's clear that the discussion for tonight is over." He stood up and moved around the table. "Come on. Up you get." He put a hand under Liam's elbow to help him up.

Liam found himself happily leaning on Sandoval as he was efficiently moved from the bar to the black leather recliner. This was a side of his father he had never seen. Oh, he had Sandoval's memories of his loving marriage to DeeDee, before the Taelons came, before he was implanted. But even though he was certain -- thanks to Lili's observations -- that his father's motivational imperative was failing, he had learned not to expect anything like caring behavior from his only surviving parent. It made him more determined than ever to make sure that nothing happened to his young counterpart or either of his parents.

In his own apartment, he had moved the black leather recliner from the center of the floor where Augur had placed it to the wall near a window. He felt more comfortable with the recliner at the edge of the room, and he didn't have to worry about tripping over it in the dark, plus it left room for his tai chi practice, another link to his mother. But here, he didn't want to make any changes when he didn't expect to be here that long, so it remained in the middle of the floor. At the moment, though, all that mattered was that he could stretch out, and he didn't have to try to get up the stairs to the bed.

Sandoval lowered him into the recliner. "You take after your mother's side of the family," he grumbled. "Tall and lanky."

"Not my fault," Liam replied. "Take it up with my parents."

A rare smile showed briefly on Sandoval's face. "Perhaps I will." He crouched down next to the recliner, so that he wasn't looking down at Liam. "If you're determined to go through with this ridiculous plan, either Boone or I will be here first thing in the morning -- no later than 7:00 -- to escort you to the embassy. If we go early, there'll be fewer chances we'll run into people that would cause problems. All right?"

Liam nodded. "Simple. Direct. Don't involve Siobhan because it would be suspect."

Sandoval nodded. "As much as she'd prefer otherwise." He stood and laid a hand on Liam's shoulder. "Stay here. Rest. Whichever one of us comes for you will bring breakfast." He looked over his shoulder and Siobhan joined them.

"Be careful in the morning, Liam. If you need anything tonight, Augur tells us that your global is working and has our numbers. Call. No matter the hour." She looked at him sternly as she said that last and repeated herself. "No matter the hour. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Liam said, sounding more like himself. He was beginning to feel better, more grounded, but he was still tired and achy.

"If it works out that I do not get to see you again, safe journey to you." She leaned over and brushed a gentle kiss across his forehead. "May your path lead you safely to your door."

"Thank you," he said. "For everything." He looked over at Sandoval. "Both of you."

With a smile from Siobhan and a solemn nod from Sandoval, they left, flicking off the lights as they did.

Liam settled back into the recliner and closed his eyes, and within moments was asleep.

And aboard the Mothership, a Volunteer passed a report regarding a strange energy surge in the Washington, D. C. area to the Companion Liaison to the United Nations. Zo'or read the report and issued a single command.

~*~*~

In the Flat Planet, Lili, Boone, and Augur sat together at a table in the back, anxiously watching the side door that led to the apartment. They each had a drink in front of them, though only Augur's contained alcohol. Lili was drinking ginger ale, and Boone's drink contained only fruit juice.

The music, the usual techno-pop beat, was annoying tonight. At least it wasn't as loud as it would be in another hour or so when the dancing started. Right now, it was still the tail end of the dinner period, so the sound was low enough to allow for conversation. Kwai Ling presided at the bar, and Suzanne and a couple of other waiters that Lili didn't recognize -- not all of the staff was Liberation -- were still being kept busy.

Lili stirred her ginger ale and punched the straw through the ice cubes a couple of times, making them rattle against the side of the glass. "Okay, aren't either of you going to say anything?"

Augur shrugged. "What's to say?"

"Is that what happened to Liam this afternoon?" By "Liam," she meant their own Liam.

"Yes," Augur answered. "More or less. But given that Kincaid ended up in the emergency room unconscious this afternoon, I'm guessing that this phasing episode was actually milder."

"Milder! It was horrific!" Lili had never seen anything like it in her life, and she hoped never to see something like that again, though she suspected that that was a pretty vain hope -- at least until they could get Kincaid home.

They had all watched helplessly as Kincaid sat stiff and straight, his hands drawn up to his chest, his eyes squeezed shut, and his mouth half open on a gasp, violent energies playing over his body. Between fingers curled into claws, light leaked from his palms. Lili _hoped_ that when she had thought she could see the wall _through_ Kincaid's body, it had been just a trick of the light -- but she was afraid that hope was vain. The phasing had seemed to last for hours, but in reality, it couldn't have been more than a minute before Kincaid went limp, only barely stopping himself from collapsing onto the table in front of him, shuddering as he drew in heavy breath after heavy breath. She, Boone, and Augur, seeing that their presence was superfluous and likely unwelcome, had slipped out of the apartment to wait in the café. Beckett and Sandoval had remained behind on the assumption that if Kincaid needed help, he would prefer it to come from them. Though now that she thought on it, he might actually have preferred someone else, given that his own mother was dead and his father didn't know Kincaid was his son. Oh, well. Too late now.

"Horrific, yes," Augur said. "But he didn't end up unconscious and being shipped to a hospital in an ambulance, so milder."

"Have you taken care of those hospital records?" Boone asked. He took a swig of his juice. "We don't want them turning up."

"Of course I have." Augur sounded miffed, as though Boone had impugned his professional skills. Lili snorted to herself. She had quickly learned that the best way to get Augur to do something he didn't want to do was, in fact, to impugn his professional skills.

Boone gave him an easy smile. "Just trying to make sure this stupid plan of Kincaid's goes as smoothly as possible."

Augur snorted. "It _is_ a stupid plan. I wonder if he gets away with that sort of thing in his home dimension."

"He did say that he could convince Da'an to help," Lili pointed out. "Sounds like he knows what he's talking about."

"I can't believe Da'an knows he's Liberation." Augur glanced toward the apartment door. "I wonder what's keeping them. Maybe we should go check."

Boone put a restraining hand on Augur's arm. "Patience, Augur. Patience. It's only been ten minutes."

Lili punched her ginger ale again, then took a long sip. "Why _do_ you suppose he trusts Da'an?"

Boone looked thoughtful; Lili suspected he was remembering his attempts to charm Da'an while learning Eunoia because it would be useful for the Liberation. He had related to her -- hesitantly, because he knew her attitude about the Taelons -- how he had ended up laughing with Da'an at the joyful absurdity of a Taelon fairy tale. "I think," he said slowly, "because Da'an is worthy of trust." At Lili's and Augur's looks of disbelief, Boone shrugged. "Call it intuition, if you like, but I've gotten a lot closer to Da'an than I ever expected, and I just think he could be trusted -- if he was approached properly, anyway."

"Right," Augur said. "So you'll be talking to him tomorrow about your own Liberation membership?"

Boone chuckled. "Yeah, I don't think so. I'm going to need a lot more proof before _that_ happens."

"Can you imagine the look on Jonathan's face if you recruited Da'an and brought him to the church?" Lili laughed.

"I can imagine getting shot," Boone replied dryly. "I think I'll pass, if it's all the same to you."

The side door opened at last and Beckett and Sandoval slipped through. They approached the table, but didn't take seats.

"How is he?" Lili tried not to sound as concerned as she was; she had come to like and respect Major Kincaid during this long day, especially after his declaration to her aboard her shuttle.

"He's recovering," Sandoval replied, "but there wasn't much more to say, so we told him to stay put and get some sleep. He is expecting either you or me to pick him up in the morning, Boone. I think it should be you; you get along better with Da'an."

Lili knew that Sandoval had once, before the failure of his motivational imperative, been jealous of how well Boone got along with their Companion; she had observed it herself. Now, free of the MI, he understood what Boone had been attempting to accomplish. Sandoval approached his spycraft from a different direction; he could not change his approach now without making Da'an suspicious. But he was also no longer jealous.

"Okay," Boone agreed. "If everything goes to hell, maybe I can at least get him out of there."

"Don't endanger yourself or your cover for him, Boone," Lili cautioned, recalling her duty to the Liberation. "As much as I like him, one way or another, he's not going to be a permanent fixture in our universe, and you are." She glanced at Beckett and Sandoval. "Sorry. I know it's hard, but it's the truth."

Neither of them looked happy, but neither of them protested.

Siobhan sighed. "Bring some breakfast with you in the morning, Commander. There's no food in that apartment."

"When did it become my responsibility to make sure he gets fed?" He raised his hands to fend off Siobhan's pointed glare. "Right. Breakfast. I can manage that."

"Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse us, we need to get back to check on our son."

"Someone's a grumpy mama-bear," Augur observed, watching them leave.

"You know what they say, Augur," Lili said. "Don't get between a mama-bear and her cubs."

Augur nodded thoughtfully. "I make it a policy never to get between Siobhan Beckett and _anything_ she wants."

Boone saluted him with his fruit juice. "See? Wisdom can be taught."

Lili laughed as Augur tossed a balled-up napkin at Boone, but her eyes strayed back to the side door leading to Kincaid's apartment. She had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be a disaster, no matter what they did to prevent it. Then again, maybe it was just pre-mission jitters. She sipped her ginger ale thoughtfully, but kept her eyes on the door, as if she could see through it to the displaced Kimera-hybrid sleeping within.


	10. Chapter 10

As exhausted as he was, Liam's sleep was nevertheless resless, broken by half-heard voices, fragments of visions, and violent dreams. He woke several times with horrific images in his mind that faded as soon as he opened his eyes, but which left behind a thick miasma of fear that plunged him back into terrifying nightmares as soon as his eyes closed again. 

On one such occasion, he woke with a cry, his heart pounding, his breath coming in quick, sharp gasps. He had dreamed of his father -- his human father. They were aboard the Mothership and Liam was strapped to a table while Sandoval tortured him with every appearance of enjoyment. He swung his legs over the side of the recliner and, with his elbows on his knees, buried his face in his hands, trying to dismiss the image of Sandoval's cruel expression from his mind. 

He and Sandoval were not friends -- were never going to be friends, let alone father and son. Liam had accepted that painful truth, or thought he had. But he didn't think Sandoval was a monster. He was hard, sometimes, but also professional, and not the sort to resort to torture. At least, there was nothing in the memories that Liam possessed to indicate that he was. It was just a nightmare. Like the nightmare he had once had in which he killed everyone in the Resistance hideout, it was just about his fears. 

Now if his torturer had been Zo'or, he might have considered the dream to be prophetic.

Liam suddenly became aware that his mouth was fuzzy with the aftertaste of the garlic in the pizza sauce. He knew that his toothbrush wasn't waiting for him upstairs, but maybe there was a tube of toothpaste in the bathroom. He could clean his teeth with a finger in a pinch. He pushed himself upright and moved through the dark apartment toward the tightly-spiraled stairs. He was still dressed, too, and in clothes which he had been wearing for thirty-six hours and slept in more than once. Maybe he should think about a shower, even if he did have to dress in these same clothes again. He glanced out the window as he passed it; judging by the sky, it was still a few hours until dawn. A shower could wait. Actually, maybe even looking for toothpaste could wait, but now that he was halfway to the loft, he might as well continue upstairs. Maybe he'd sleep better in the bed.

He ran water in the stainless steel sink, splashing some on his face. He caught some water in his cupped hands, rinsed his mouth, then drank deeply. That helped a bit. He turned the water off, moved back to the bed, stripped down to his shorts, and fell onto the mattress. 

He woke a few hours later to find it still dark. He had to check his global for the time because Augur didn't appear to keep a clock in the place. 4:30 a.m. Plenty of time for a shower before Boone or Sandoval showed up.

He found towels where he expected to and there was, surprisingly, a bin of unopened toiletries in the bathroom -- all with fruity or floral scents, which led Liam to wonder just what Augur got up to in this apartment. Still, wasn't there a proverb about gift horses? He opened a toothbrush and a travel-sized tube of toothpaste and gratefully brushed his teeth before getting into the shower. The pounding of the hot water felt good on his sore muscles; he was still achy this morning and wondered if Augur also kept aspirin around the place. Maybe he could call Siobhan and get her to send some.

By the time Liam climbed regretfully into his days-old clothing, the sky was beginning to lighten, though the sun had not yet risen. He cleaned up the mess he had made in the bathroom, straightened up the bed, hung the used towels to dry, and went slowly down the spiral staircase to the first floor, checking the time again on his global as he went, to find that he still had about an hour to wait for either Boone or Sandoval to pick him up. He wondered if he ought to just go to the embassy on his own, rather than endangering any of the others. He was _reasonably_ confident of his ability to convince Da'an to help him -- he knew from his conversation with the alternate Da'an of Maiya's dimension that Da'an was Da'an, but he supposed there was always a chance he could be wrong. After all, he wouldn't have expected _any_ alternate Lili to be a Taelon agent, yet in that dimension, Maiya's sister Kayla had been the ranking agent in the subjugation of humanity. 

On the other hand, Maiya's husband Jason -- that dimension's Sandoval -- had been humanity's greatest champion.

And if such a radical change in basic personality happened with Da'an, then best if Liam was the only one endangered. From what he had gathered, though, Da'an remained the person Liam knew him to be: alien, to be sure, but thoughtful, kind, and invested in the survival of _both_ Taelons and humanity.

He was two steps from the bottom of the staircase, weight on one foot, the other reaching for the step below, his hands occupied with hooking his global back to his belt, when the seizure caught him. The global fell from his hands, clattering and bouncing its way to the hard floor. Unbalanced and unable to catch himself, he pitched forward and followed it, his body spasming and wracked by energy spikes. He was vaguely aware of the apartment door bursting inward and black-clad Volunteers stepping through, followed by a fuzzy figure pointing a skrill at him, but caught in the throes of the universe's latest attempt to unmake him, there was nothing Liam could do as they dragged him to his feet, cuffed his hands, and half-carried him -- still phasing -- from the apartment to the shuttle waiting outside.

~*~*~

Sandoval was knotting his tie when he heard a thin cry from his son's bedroom. He rushed into the room, the tie's ends flapping, to see a horrific sight. Liam lay shaking on his bed, miniature bolts of lightning crawling over his pajama-clad body. Aware that there was nothing he could do to stop the phasing, Sandoval pulled out his global and entered an emergency code that would summon Dr. Park. While there was nothing she could do, either, she could at least make sure Liam was all right in the seizure's aftermath.

By the time Siobhan rushed into the room about a minute later, with Dr. Park hard on her heels, the phasing had ended. Sandoval was sitting on the edge of the bed while Liam clung to him and sobbed. 

Sandoval raised his free hand and made a "slow down" gesture. Both women pulled up short.

"It's over," he said softly. "He's all right. One of you please call Major Kincaid." He met Siobhan's eyes. "I don't think the major was able to shield Liam this time."

Siobhan's eyes widened and she pulled out her global and punched in the number Augur had passed to all of them the previous evening. Concern crossed her face and she shook her head. "He's not answering."

"Someone had better get over there, then," Sandoval said, "and check on him."

Next to him, Liam stiffened. "No, Papa!" The boy pushed away from Sandoval and sat up. He face was tear-streaked and he swiped his pajama sleeve across his nose. "They took him, Papa. He's not there anymore."

Siobhan crossed the room in two steps and sat down on the end of the bed. "Who took him, Liam? What do you mean?"

"Volunteers, Mama. He could see Volunteers. And someone with a skrill."

Sandoval and Siobhan met each other's eyes. Someone with a skrill who was not a Volunteer had to be a Companion Protector. Sandoval glanced toward Dr. Park, who was still waiting by the door.

"Go," she said, stepping away from the door so they could get by her. "I'll look after him." She smiled at the boy. "We're getting to be old hands at this, right, Liam?"

Liam was rapidly regaining his normal bouncy outlook. "Right, Auntie M'lissa." He turned toward his parents, and that odd adult tone came into his voice. "The only way to stop this is to help Major Kincaid," he said. "He needs to go back to his own dimension to be able to do what he is supposed to do."

It was on Sandoval's tongue to ask what Liam meant by that, but he swallowed the question down. Now was not the time. But someday, he and his son were going to sit down and have a long talk about Liam's other father and what great destiny Ha'gel had in mind for Liam. For both Liams, apparently.

His global chimed; he reflexively grabbed it off his belt. It was Boone, with a worried look on his face. "Kincaid's not here."

"No," Sandoval answered. "He has apparently been taken by Volunteers and a Companion Protector. He's probably on the Mothership." He glanced at his son, then at Siobhan and Dr. Park. "It looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way after all."

Boone nodded. "I'll see you at the office."

Sandoval snapped his global shut. "Looks like it's time to go to work," he said.

"Help Major Kincaid, Papa. You too, Mama. It's important."

Siobhan enveloped Liam in a hug as Sandoval sighed. "Okay, tiger. Okay."

~*~*~

Shannon, whose duty shift did not start for a couple of hours yet, sat in the mysterious Major Kincaid's shuttle once again reviewing the data logs. If she accepted the data that her scans had given her -- that the shuttle, and therefore the pilot, had come from a different dimension, thanks to whatever device had been fused into the ID drive -- then it would seem that Major Kincaid _was_ both a shuttle pilot and Companion Protector. So how had he come to be in this dimension? And where did he go after he landed at the embassy the night before last?

She wondered, idly, if she could rig a scanner that would locate him based on the molecular scans of the shuttle. In theory, his molecular signature should be as out of phase with this dimension as the shuttle's. It was an interesting exercise from an engineering standpoint, but not something she was likely to get approval for. At the moment, she had something of a dilemma. Should she report this? She had been ordered to repair the shuttle. Nothing more, nothing less. She intended to repair it, if she could.

But. She had joined the Volunteers to be a pilot, but had so far only been able to serve as technical support. Because she was stationed on the Mothership and because she was support crew, rather than a soldier, she had had a chance to observe the Taelons directly. She knew what rumors were flying around amongst the human crew -- those whose implants were not dialed so high that they were little more than robots, anyway. Though some of those, she thought, tracing a nervous finger down her own implant which trailed down the side of her neck from her ear to just under her collar bone, were not, strictly speaking, human. She was pretty certain that many of them were biosurrogates who had never been _people._ They were empty, blank, controlled through their implants...so "robots" wasn't an entirely inaccurate description. She'd heard the word "meatbot" in the cafeteria, though her friend Alex also occasionally called them "robeasts," after some Japanese cartoon or other.

And sometimes, the Taelons -- especially Zo'or -- did not care what they said in front of anyone with an implant. Which frequently made her nervous, because why _didn't_ they care? What was it that made them so certain that no Volunteer would betray their secrets? Was it arrogance -- or something more insidious? Everyone knew about the motivational imperatives in the CVIs given to the Companion Protectors. Did something similar lurk in the Volunteer implants? For whatever reason, she had come to the conclusion -- which she kept strictly to herself -- that the Taelons weren't all that they pretended to be. She had seen the heavily armed shuttles and cruisers that were in different bays than this one. She knew that with the implanted Volunteers, the Taelons could go from benevolent saviors to occupying force very easily.

Her attention was drawn to movement outside the shuttle, and she looked up, surprised. It was early in the morning, and there wasn't usually activity in the bay at this hour; it was part of the reason she'd chosen to come now to review the data logs again. A Companion Protector whom she recognized as Jack Malley, Zo'or's assigned protector, and three heavily-armed Volunteers were escorting a lanky man in dark clothes across the bay. The prisoner looked ill; he moved slowly, and every so often one of the guards would prod him in the back with the muzzle of a weapon. On one such occasion, the prisoner stumbled and fell heavily to the deck, trying unsuccessfully to break his fall with cuffed hands. He lay there for a few seconds until Malley growled something at him, gesturing meaningfully with his skrill arm. The prisoner slowly pushed himself up off the deck and got to his feet, looking around as he did...and Shannon recognized the shuttle's pilot. Companion Protector Major Liam Kincaid.

His gaze fell on the shuttle and he stilled. From across the bay, he met her eyes. Shannon tensed, wondering if he was going to try to make a break for it and wondering what she would do if he did. But the next second, his gaze moved on and he followed his captors from the shuttle bay.

Shannon found her heart pounding and her breathing quick and harsh in her ears. What had just happened? How had they found him? Why was he a prisoner? And what was she going to do about it?

Wait, what made her think _she_ could do _anything_ about it? It wasn't her business. Her orders were to repair the shuttle.

Her stomach chose that moment to remind her that she had come to the shuttle bay before breakfast. She glanced at her watch; she had a little over an hour until her shift started. She needed to know if anyone had any idea what was going on, and Volunteers were as big a bunch of gossips as any group of high school kids. Someone in the cafeteria would know something.

She dismissed the shuttle's holographic controls, and went in search of breakfast...and gossip.

Certain sections and decks of the Mothership had been set aside to accommodate the large numbers of human crew members now serving and living aboard her. These areas included a cafeteria and lounges, quarters for the Companion Protectors, and Volunteer barracks.

In the crowded cafeteria, Shannon grabbed a tray and got in line. For the most part, the food was bland and tasteless -- one thing the energy-based Taelons could not get right was the taste and texture of human food -- but every so often there'd be a surprise. This was not one of those times, though, Shannon found when she got to the head of the line. This morning's choices were brown porridge, pink porridge, or purple porridge. Well. Possibly porridge. She went with the brown on the theory that porridge should be brown, not pink or purple. 

She surveyed the tables and spotted her friend Alex. He saw her at almost the same time and waved her over, his wide grin vivid against his mahogany skin. They had been at the same training center; while she had gone for shuttle training, he was a science geek and served on the bridge crew, which meant he _always_ had prime gossip.

"Hey, Shan!" he said as she slid into a seat across the long table from him. "You're never going to believe it!"

"Believe what?" she asked, dipping a spoon into the brown glop on her tray. She tasted it tentatively and was surprised to find that it actually did taste like oatmeal flavored with brown sugar. Maybe it was a good day, after all.

"They found Lieutenant Beckett!" Alex announced. His expression was as proud as if he had found the missing Companion Protector himself.

Shannon's eyes widened and she stopped with her spoon halfway to her mouth, not having to feign either interest or surprise. "No way!"

"Yes way!" Alex teased. He was aware of Shannon's hero worship; she'd mentioned it often enough in training.

"Where? How?" The news almost drove the mysterious Major Kinciad from her mind; her granny would be so happy.

"She was arrested in D. C. Apparently her CVI was tampered with and she didn't remember who she was."

"Is she all right?"

"Yeah, they took her to one of the CVI specialists and got her fixed up. She's supposed to start back to work today and be assigned to the Washington Embassy for now since La'al likes his new protector."

"So, Da'an has, what, _three_ protectors now?" Shannon asked. "Is that odd?"

Alex shrugged. "He seems to have all the bad luck -- kidnappings, diseases, bombs. Maybe he needs three. None of the others seem to have that much bad luck." He leaned forward and lowered his voice. "But that's not the most interesting thing."

Intrigued, Shannon leaned in.

"Remember Ha'gel?" Alex asked in a hushed voice.

Shannon nodded. It was hard to forget something that got the normally tranquil Taelons in such an uproar. She had been almost able to _taste_ the undercurrents of fear in the tense atmosphere of the Mothership. Besides, Lieutenant Beckett had disappeared during the hunt for Ha'gel.

"Well, they're saying that Ha'gel left a kid behind," Alex was practically whispering now. "They're saying that Beckett is the mother and that's why she was missing for so long, because she had to take care of the kid."

Shannon frowned. "That sounds a little hinky."

"Hinky?" Alex said, in apparent disbelief. His tone changed to mock outrage. "Hinky?"

"Hinky," Shannon affirmed. "For one thing, it's only been a few months. How could she have even had a baby by now?"

"Then why did they have us sweeping for _Kimera_ energy surges?" Alex sat back and crossed his arms triumphantly. 

"Yeah? And did you find any?"

It was Alex's turn to frown. "Well, no. But we did find some other weird energy surges." He leaned forward again, asking softly, "Did you hear about the shuttle that just appeared out of nowhere night before last?"

"I'm _working_ on the shuttle that appeared out of nowhere night before last," Shannon replied, grinning. Finally, some gossip of her own. She debated telling him about the device she'd found in the ID drive, but some intuition kept her from speaking. She didn't want it all over the ship, she told herself.

"Yeah? Cool! Well, they're saying that these energy surges started after that shuttle appeared." He was silent a moment, taking bites of his breakfast. "You know what I think?" he asked around a spoonful of pink glop. _"I_ think it's the pilot. He's been missing since he landed the shuttle at the embassy."

"How could it be the pilot?" Shannon had the uncomfortable feeling that she already knew the answer to that thanks to her scans of the shuttle.

"C'mon, Shan! You've watched _Star Trek!_ Weird things like that are always connected."

Shannon resisted the urge to raise a brow and quote Mr. Spock. "I dunno, Alex, sounds like a stretch to me. Besides, this is reality, not a TV show."

Alex pointed a finger at her. "I'm telling you, Shan. It's the pilot." He glanced at his watch. "Ugh. Time to go. I hope Zo'or stays off the bridge today. He was all over the place yesterday, and he is _not_ fun to be around." He picked up his tray. "See you at dinner?"

Shannon nodded as she stood and picked up her own tray for disposal. "Yeah, see you later."

Shannon thought about the shuttle's molecules being out of phase as she headed back to the shuttle bay. She had considered earlier that the pilot must be as well; how would that affect him? She remembered how ill Major Kincaid had looked as the guards forced him across the shuttle bay. What if this dimension was toxic to him? What if it was killing him? If that was the case, wasn't it incumbent on her to help if she could? 

But he was a prisoner, and the Mothership was huge. He could be anywhere aboard. How, exactly, could she help him now?

She reached the shuttle and climbed inside. Her gear lay on the floor behind the pilot's seat, her scanners ready and waiting for her. She should really just get to work on the drives. Her job was to repair the shuttle, not gallivant around the Mothership looking for prisoners.

She looked at the scanners. It wouldn't hurt to take a scan of the shuttle that had brought Major Kincaid here, would it? She should make sure that the major's presence hadn't left lingering dangerous or toxic effects. Right?

Shannon picked up her equipment and headed across the bay. Reluctant to be seen scanning that shuttle in particular, she took detailed scans of several shuttles then returned to _her_ shuttle. She sat cross-legged in the space behind the passenger seats and reviewed the data. There _were_ residual traces of energy fluctuations. With this information, she could probably find where Malley had stashed Major Kincaid, but with the limited range of her equipment, she'd have to wander all over the Mothership, scanning things. But she was sitting in a shuttle.... Without allowing herself to consider what she was doing, Shannon moved to the pilot's seat, called up the virtual controls and set the shuttle to scan for the same energy traces, hoping that she wouldn't set off any interior alarms. In moments, she had pinpointed the major's location. He was in a sector of the Mothership where she had never been, and which she thought was off-limits to human personnel. 

Her heart beating like a jackhammer, she shut down the shuttle's controls and retreated to a seat on the floor by her equipment. She should really just get to work on the ID drive. Major Kincaid wasn't her concern. It was none of her business. And, anyway, he wasn't going anywhere if the ship wasn't repaired. 

Biting her lip, she turned back to her assigned work. She'd get the shuttle fixed. And then she'd decide about the rest. 

On the bridge, an alert flashed across a console. Volunteer and Liberation member Alex Brooks called up the information, frowned, glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then deleted it. Shan was going to have some explaining to do at dinner.


	11. Chapter 11

Liam let his head fall back against the purple and blue bioslurry of the detention cell's wall. Malley and the three Volunteers had escorted him here, activated the virtual glass barrier, and left, all without a word. In fact, they hadn't spoken much at all, other than barked orders. Malley had made a single taunt about impersonating a Companion Protector, but nothing more. No clues as to which Taelon he was assigned to -- which Taelon was defying the orders of the Synod by having the dangerous Kimera-spawn brought aboard the Mothership instead of killed outright.

That worried him, to be perfectly honest; it implied someone with their own agenda, and it strongly implied that he was not going to like whatever came next. At least he was in a cell, rather than a lab. A shiver rolled down his back at the thought, and a hint of prescience sparked in his mind. _Not yet, anyway. Time enough for that later._

He ruthlessly clamped down on the terror inspired by that thought -- he already had frequent nightmares of what would happen were the Synod to discover the truth about him. Had it been visions of what lay ahead this day, then, rather than just nightmares that had woken him in the middle of the night? He shuddered before he could stop it. _God. I hope not._

At least he knew where his shuttle was. He remembered the startled expression on the face of the Volunteer who was sitting in the pilot's seat as their eyes briefly met. She had recognized him. But if she had been working on the shuttle, one of the first things she would have done would have been to pull up the logs, including the pilot information. He had thought very briefly about trying to get to the shuttle; normally he wouldn't have hesitated, relying on his Kimera strength and reflexes -- the equal of the enhanced reflexes of the Volunteers or Malley -- but the phasing episode that had begun just before the Volunteers burst into the apartment had only just ended, and he was still shaky and weak. He didn't think he could take all of them in that condition, and there was that tech in the shuttle. If she hadn't been in the pilot's seat, he might still have tried, but with her sitting there, a quick getaway was nearly impossible.

He wondered if she had repaired the ID drive. He wondered, now that he finally had the time to think about it, what had happened to the ID drive. Sabotage, most likely, but by whom? Doors wouldn't try the same thing twice. Besides, they seemed to have reached an understanding -- or at least detente, since Liam knew that Doors still disliked and distrusted him. So who had done it this time? Probably Sandoval, he thought darkly.

He knew that would never have the relationship with his human father that he so desperately wanted. He would have been willing to settle for friendship with Sandoval, but it looked like even that was not going to be possible. The CVI and its motivational imperative had changed Sandoval in more ways than just the obvious. And while the motivational imperatives in _all_ the Companion Protectors' CVIs appeared to be failing, the damage was already done. 

Liam had a theory. He knew from his inherited memories that Sandoval, despite his protestations to the contrary, had fallen in love with Siobhan even before Ha'gel had hijacked them both to produce a hybrid son -- which neither of them knew about, of course, Siobhan because her memory had been wiped and Sandoval because he had been in a kind of stasis while Ha'gel wore his form. He remembered his own anger at both the Taelons _and_ the Resistance when Siobhan had died in his arms. And he had seen the spark of it beneath his father's impassive mask when he'd looked up and seen Sandoval, clad in climbing gear, looking down at them. He knew Sandoval well enough by then to know that he wouldn't have come in person for any other Companion Protector. Only Siobhan. And there could be only one reason for that: he loved her. And her loss had changed him even more. Whatever his agenda was now, Liam wasn't sure how to even begin to approach him.

He let his eyes close with a sigh. The other possibility, of course, was that it wasn't Sandoval exactly, but Zo'or trying -- again -- to weaken Da'an by removing his loyal protector. Sandoval might be the weapon, but Zo'or was the hand wielding that weapon. If that was the case, he definitely needed to get back; he couldn't leave Da'an in danger. He'd sworn an oath to protect Da'an, and he would redeem that oath with his life if necessary.

Siobhan and the others would be aware by now that something had gone wrong. With the Volunteers cuffing him and dragging him away, he hadn't been able to maintain the concentration required to shield young Liam during the phasing. He thought he'd heard the echo of the boy's cry when the Volunteers burst in. Even if Siobhan or Sandoval didn't go right away -- and he preferred that they see to their son before worrying about him, anyway -- when his escort to the embassy arrived they'd find the door to the apartment hanging open and him gone. 

They would try to help, he was certain. But they would have to maneuver around Da'an, and who knew how long that might take. He needed to figure out how to get out of here by himself.

He had a sudden sensation of being watched; he opened his eyes and wearily raised his head to find a Taelon on the other side of the virtual glass barrier -- and not just any Taelon, but the one he least wanted to see right now.

"Zo'or," he said flatly, his intonation turning the name into a curse.

"Who are you?" Zo'or asked, his voice light, almost friendly. 

Liam was far too well acquainted with Zo'or to be taken in by the tone of idle curiosity. This was the beginning of an interrogation. There was little point in trying the fakery that had worked with Agent Lassiter yesterday morning, so he answered truthfully. Well, more or less, anyway, given that he wasn't actually Liam _Kincaid_ , after all. 

"And what is your function, Major Kincaid?"

"I'm a Companion Protector."

Zo'or evinced surprise. "Indeed? And to which Companion are you assigned?"

"The North American Companion, Da'an."

"I am well acquainted with Da'an's staff," Zo'or said. "I do not recall seeing you in the embassy." His expression and finger movements indicated that he felt he had proven that Liam was lying.

Liam shrugged. "I never said it was _your_ Da'an."

Zo'or stared at him, his eyes narrowing. "What do you mean by that?"

Liam slowly got to his feet and approached the virtual glass. He was tired. He hurt. He wanted to go home, and he was beginning to feel that this time, he wasn't going to make it. "Look, Zo'or. We both know that you have my shuttle. We both know that it appeared out of nowhere. We both know that you have already figured out that I'm not from this dimension. So we both know that I'm telling the truth."

Zo'or's eyes narrowed even further. _"I_ know nothing of the sort, Major." His eyes flicked down to Liam's cuffed wrists. "You do not have a skrill."

"No. I do not." Liam waited.

"You do not have a CVI," Zo'or said. "Why do you not have a CVI?"

"Because _you_ decided that I didn't need one," Liam replied.

"I?" There was a wealth of offended surprise in the single syllable.

"Da'an's previous protector was killed," Liam said, deciding it was better to be vague about it -- no point in giving this Zo'or ideas about Synod leadership. "When I applied for the job, you and Da'an decided that I would not be required to be implanted. It's a new experiment," he added in sudden inspiration.

"You're lying, Major Kincaid -- if that's your name," Zo'or replied. "But that is not unexpected. Humans often lie. I will have the truth from you, one way or another."

He turned and walked away. Liam remained standing at the barrier until he was out of sight, then sagged sideways against the wall next to the barrier. Round one over. He had to get out of here before Zo'or came back for round two. 

He examined the cuffs around his wrists. They looked like the standard magnetic variety. They were attached so that his hands were together palms facing each other. He couldn't activate his shaqarava without hurting himself. But if he rotated his arms so that one hand was atop the other, then tilted the top hand as far up as as he could and the bottom hand as far back as it would go, he should be able to activate just one shaqarava. He had a simple aim: disable the virtual glass, get to his shuttle. No, wait. Disable the virtual glass, get the cuffs off, _then_ get to the shuttle. He couldn't fly with his hands bound.

Liam put his hands in the appropriate position, left hand up, right hand down, then willed the shaqarava in his left palm alight.

A shock tore through his wrists and halfway up his arms, causing him to stagger. He bit back a cry of pain as he realized that the cuffs were meant to neutralize his shaqarava.

Zo'or knew that he had shaqarava.

That meant Malley must be _Zo'or's_ protector in this dimension, and had kidnapped him on Zo'or's orders. Zo'or knew what he was.

Well, _fuck._

~*~*~

Boone was reviewing security logs, Lili looking over his shoulder, when Sandoval and Beckett arrived at Boone's office. They both looked up from the computer when the elevator door dinged; Lili took a step back to a professional distance in case it was someone unexpected.

"Anything?" Sandoval asked, as he walked through the glass door, automatically assuming his authority as Boone's superior -- probably without even realizing it, Boone thought, half-amused. 

He shook his head. "Nothing. I don't have the right access, since I'm not in charge of Mothership security and they didn't go through the embassy."

Sandoval frowned in irritation -- not at him, Boone realized, but at the situation. "As the chief Protector, I could review assignments, but it would likely take too long."

"Besides," Beckett pointed out, "we _know_ where he is."

"More or less," Lili added dryly. "The Mothership is still a big place and there are a lot of areas to which we do not have access."

"And he's certainly being held in one of those," Boone agreed.

"So even if we find him we may not be able to reach him," Lili said.

"Oh, we'll reach him," Sandoval said grimly, taking a seat at Boone's conference table. Beckett joined him. "There is no way we're leaving him in Taelon hands."

Boone was a bit surprised at Sandoval's vehemence, but Beckett gave him an approving look. "How, then, do we locate him?" she asked.

"I hate to say this," Boone said with a troubled expression, "but the only way I can think of is to have Augur monitor the Mothership for the energy he puts out when he's phasing."

Lili looked alarmed. "You mean wait until he has another seizure?"

Sandoval managed to look even grimmer than before. "That is likely how the Volunteers found him to begin with, and according to Liam, they took the major in the middle of a seizure when he couldn't fight back."

"Why didn't we think to have Belman inject him with a tracker while he was at the clinic?" Lili demanded.

"We didn't expect him to end up a prisoner on the Mothership," Beckett replied. "At least, not on terms other than his own. Besides, do you think he would have accepted such a thing?"

Lili made a face. "For his own safety, and with these seizures?"

Beckett shook her head. "You're forgetting that he has his own secrets; we may know the most important ones, but that doesn't mean that he would be willing to compromise the rest."

Something suddenly occurred to Boone. "I think we need to consider that the whoever has him knows that he's part-Kimera," he said thoughtfully. "In which case, he might be even harder to get to than if they simply picked him up because of the phasing energy."

"Could Da'an have found him?" Lili asked.

Sandoval shook his head. "Unlikely. He would have notified us that the search was no longer necessary."

"So we have to figure out which other Taelon would defy the Synod by kidnapping their 'Kimera-spawn,' as they called him," Lili said, sketching quotation marks in the air with her fingers. "Is there anyone on the Mothership that we can have try to find him?"

"We'd have to tell Doors," Sandoval said. "We can't just issue an order to a Liberation agent. Besides, I don't know about you, but I only know of a couple of Volunteers that I _suspect_ are Liberation. The only Liberation agents I know for sure have regular access to the Mothership are in this room."

Lili frowned. "Kincaid knows where the Liberation headquarters is. If the Taelons have him aboard the Mothership, then we _have_ to let Jonathan know of the danger."

"No," Boone objected. "Kincaid won't willingly give them that information. He's Liberation himself -- or Resistance, I guess he called it -- so he knows the risks."

Beckett tilted her head thoughtfully, in a move very reminiscent of a Taelon. Boone wondered idly how many protectors and other humans who worked with the Taelons picked up such mannerisms. "I have a thought," she said, "though I'm sure you'll all think it daft." With the attention of the other three on her, she reached into her purse and pulled out the velvet pouch that held her runes.

"You think the runes will tell us where Kincaid is being held?" Boone asked with a half-smile.

"No," Beckett replied mildly. "Of course not. But they may tell us which Taelon took him, which could go a long way toward leading us to him."

While Boone had not seen Beckett use the runes before, he knew that she did have psychic abilities; her ancestors had been among those so gifted by Ma'el. She had passed them on to her son, though his abilities had also been amplified somewhat by his Kimera heritage. 

He glanced at Sandoval, who shrugged minutely and and indicated with a head tilt that they certainly had nothing to lose. If Beckett was aware of their byplay, she gave no sign of it, merely waiting calmly.

"Can't hurt to try," Boone said. Behind him, a stifled sigh indicated Lili's disapproval. She didn't like to believe in Beckett's abilities, though it was Beckett's intuition that had led the then-protector to the UK Companion to believe that Lili was Liberation. Lili chose instead to believe that she had somehow betrayed herself to Beckett, leading Beckett to set the trap that in turn led her into Sandoval/Ha'gel's arms in the sanctuary at St. Michael's Church.

Beckett nodded. She closed her eyes and whispered something that Boone didn't catch even with his CVI-augmented hearing, then reached into the pouch and pulled out a clay tile. She turned it over. The symbol carved into the tile resembled a staff with a pennant.

She laid it on the crimson velvet pouch. "Thurisaz," she said. "Rune of chaos."

"What does that mean?" Lili demanded. She had not moved from her position behind Boone. He wondered if she was backing him up or hiding behind him. Her pragmatic, rational view of the world made her acutely uncomfortable when it came to the esoteric, despite knowing that psychic gifts were, at the end of the day, just another form of Taelon manipulation -- even if Ma'el, at least, had had humanity's best interests in mind.

Beckett looked thoughtful. "Chaos is the opponent of order," she said slowly. "If we accept Da'an as order, then who is his opponent?"

Boone, Lili, and Sandoval exchanged glances, then all said the same word: "Zo'or."

~*~*~

Liam had eased himself to the floor once more at the rear of his cell, his back against the wall. The bioslurry was warm and slightly soft where he leaned against it, and he could feel the slight hum of life in the wall. It had been a while since Zo'or had left; he tried not to think about what orders the Taelon might be giving regarding him. Zo'or was not leader of the Synod in this reality, but that didn't mean that he wasn't capable of doing unpleasant things. The fact that he had hidden Liam away here in the bowels of the Mothership was proof enough of that.

He considered his options. Obviously, with his shaqarava neutralized by the cuffs, he was not going to get out of here on his own...not unless he could convince the Mothership herself to help him. He cocked his head at the thought. Could he? He knew she was a living creature, but he had never tried to actually communicate with her before. It might be something to try, perhaps, as a last ditch effort, but he had other avenues open at present. He could communicate easily with young Liam. He would prefer not to, however, as it would endanger his young counterpart. Besides that, the boy would have to find someone in Liberation headquarters to contact his parents, who would, in turn, have to manufacture a reason to come to the Mothership. It would all take a lot of time, time that he might not have. So put that option just above communicating with the Mothership on his List of Escape Routes.

He could attempt to communicate psychically with Siobhan. This option held some promise, especially based on how she had Shared with him yesterday morning as they were being arrested. Either Siobhan's psychic talents were more advanced in this dimension or Ha'gel had amplified them during the Joining that produced young Liam. If the latter were the case, then it was entirely possible he might also be able to communicate with Sandoval. 

The remaining option, and the one that might be best, would be to seek Da'an out through the Commonality. He had never really tried to do that before, although since Zo'or and the Synod in his own dimension had never figured out how Da'an-as-Atavus had been reconnected to the Commonality, he could probably do it without placing a huge blinking _Kimera here!_ light over his own head.

Or so he hoped.

Though since Zo'or appeared to know what he was, the sign was already hung and just waiting to be turned on.

In any case, he should at least try it. He straightened away from the wall into his normal meditation pose -- as closely as he could, anyway, with his hands bound before him. Taking slow, deep breaths, he allowed himself to drift. In his first phasing episode yesterday, he had seen the glowing web of the Commonality, alight with the spirit of every Taelon in existence. Here on the Mothership, surrounded by Taelons, it should not be difficult to find. He reached outward, visualizing it in his mind...and there it was, pulsing with the same purple-hued light that had come to be associated with all things Taelon. 

He did not want to touch the Commonality as a whole; he did not want to reveal himself to the rest of the Taelons. Yet the Commonality was far vaster than he had ever thought; how could he find a single Taelon in the entirety of their species? The task was impossible; even the proverbial needle in a haystack would be easier to locate.

And yet.... He knew Da'an -- his mentor, his surrogate parent, his Companion. He had spent the greater portion of every day practically since his birth in Da'an's company. He knew Da'an's mental signature; he had reforged Da'an's connection to this web when Augur had accidentally severed it. He only had to find him. Preferably before Zo'or came back -- or he phased again.

Liam imagined himself as a falcon, circling the Commonality on cosmic winds, darting here and there between the strands, but never touching the web itself. Da'an would be close, he thought -- he hoped -- the farthest reaches of the Commonality represented Taelons in other parts of the galaxy, surely? The Taelons on Earth were not the only ones out there. And so he concentrated his efforts on those Taelons nearest to him, darting in to taste their mental signatures, then darting away again -- hopefully before they noticed him. Some of them glowed brighter than others; these he thought must be Synod members. By that logic, the brightest one was Quo'on, the Synod's leader. Just beyond Quo'on were two Taelons connected not just to the Commonality, but with a strange bond of their own. Curious, he circled first one, then the other. The first, he could not identify, but the second was Da'an.

Liam stilled his flight, imagined himself in his own form again, unbound in this place that was not actually a place. He willed his shaqarava alight, touching a glowing palm to the orb that represented Da'an.

_Da'an,_ he thought. _Help me._

~*~*~

The energy stream sparkled blue around Da'an's resting form. He was not truly asleep, for Taelons did not sleep in the way humans did -- and therefore imagined other creatures did as well. Rather, he had been communing with the Commonality, but now he had distanced himself from the others to consider in private the Synod meeting just past. He had attended the meeting in person; Captain Marquette had piloted him to the Mothership and he now rested in his quarters aboard. Knowing that the meeting would last well beyond the end of her duty shift, he had sent the captain back to the planet; he would summon her later to return him to the embassy.

The order to destroy the Kimera-spawn had been automatic and unthinking. He felt that it was a mistake. He was even beginning to reconsider his agreement to the execution of Ha'gel. The Kimera had saved the Taelons and the Taelons had repaid that kindness with death and destruction. While all of this had happened long before Da'an's own birth, he carried the ancestral memories, as did all of his species. He could view the destruction of the Kimera homeworld at any time.

He preferred not to do so.

It was not that he was squeamish about the memories. They were the past and there was nothing to be done about it. He, Da'an, was not responsible for the choices of his ancestors. That did not mean that he had to either approve of or glory in them. He regretted his own immediate fear in the face of Ha'gel's release from stasis; he had been caught up in the Commonality's terror. The Kimera formed the Commonality to help the Taelons overcome the temptations of the shaqarava. The Kimera could, therefore, destroy the Commonality. And so the Kimera, the Commonality believed, had to be destroyed for the safety and well-being of all Taelons. 

And so he, along with the other Taelon ambassadors, had ordered his Protectors to hunt down the sole remaining Kimera and exterminate him, which they had done, though not without cost. Boone had been badly wounded and required weeks in a blue tank to heal. Beckett had gone missing -- and Da'an still had his private doubts about her memory loss, no matter what Dr. Belman and her tests might say. Her reappearance right at the same time as the Commonality felt the unmistakable presence of Kimera energy was too much for coincidence. He kept his doubts from the Commonality, though. Beckett was too valuable an officer to lose a second time.

While the Kimera-spawn might or might not be Beckett's child, it was certainly Ha'gel's. And there was much that could be learned from such a being. For one thing, the young one would carry the Kimera's ancestral memories, just as the Taelons carried the memories of their own race. For another, Da'an had been in charge of the hybrid project -- and its failures -- for too long not to want to study a viable hybrid. Especially as he still believed that the humans were the only hope for the Taelons. Since the Taelons no longer reproduced on their own, for them to survive, their offspring must be hybrids.

As he considered all of these things, he became aware of a presence. Another mind was near to his in the Commonality. No. Not _in_ the Commonality. Outside it. A human psychic, perhaps, like Katya Petrenko. Since her regrettable death some months ago, the incursions of human psychics had lessened, but there were always some intrepid souls who would dare it. When Da'an felt such a one, he would gently shoo it away. He had no desire to see another promising light extinguished as Miss Petrenko had been.

He was in the act of reaching out to this one when he felt it.

_Kimera!_

It was the Kimera-spawn, reaching out -- for him?

_Da'an,_ he heard. _Help me._

He sat bolt upright; the energy shower shut off automatically. Had he been wearing his facade, it would have crumbled beneath the shock. For a moment, he was unable to respond, then he cautiously reached out again.

_You are Kimera?_

_Da'an! Oh, thank god. You gotta get me outta here, Da'an,_ the Kimera -- a male -- said in the curious, elided speech so often heard from humans.

Da'an built his facade, already getting to his feet. _Who are you?_

He got the impression of a sigh. _Right. Wrong universe. Sorry. Major Liam Kincaid, Companion Protector. Assigned to the North American Companion, Da'an._

Da'an's feet carried him from his quarters. _I do not know you._

_No. I'm...not from around here._ There was a mental flash of hands striving to right a pitching shuttle, Ronald Sandoval's face, but not his personality, Da'an himself wearing the sash of War Minister talking to a young man in the grey jumpsuit of a shipboard Volunteer.

The same young man who had been arrested yesterday morning with Siobhan Beckett.

Da'an followed the young man's mental trace. He had stopped speaking and was mentally singing some sort of annoyingly repetitive tune -- _All around the cobbler's bench, the monkey chased the weasel. The monkey thought 'twas all in fun. Pop! goes the weasel._ \-- which while an excellent locator, was beginning to grate on Da'an's nerves by the time he turned a corner in a remote, hardly-used sector of the ship to find the young man confined behind a virtual glass barrier in a holding cell at the end of the hallway. He was sitting at the rear of the cell, one leg stretched out before him, one knee drawn up to support cuffed wrists.

When he saw Da'an, he scrambled to his feet somewhat awkwardly because of his bound hands, and approached the barrier with a smile. The annoying mental tune stopped.

"Da'an! I am so glad to see you."

Da'an studied the young man. He was tall and lean, dressed in rumpled dark clothing. Brown hair and green eyes, which Da'an thought were somewhat rare amongst the inhabitants of the planet below. Lieutenant Beckett's eyes were green, he recalled. The young man's face was boyishly open, his expression currently edging away from delight at Da'an's silence. And...there was nothing about him that indicated that he was Kimera.

"I do not believe that we have met, Major," Da'an said, at last, tilting his head.

"No," the man replied, his grin fading. "Not in this world." An expression that Da'an could not readily identify flitted across his face at those words. Regret? Sadness? A memory, perhaps, triggered by his words. Da'an let it go as unimportant.

"You spoke of such a thing before. 'Wrong universe,' I believe you said."

The young man grimaced. "Yes. It's a long story." He looked thoughtful, then raised his bound hands before him. "I could show you, if you'd trust me."

Da'an considered it. He would not have dared to Share with the young one's sire -- not with Ha'gel. But the young one was surely not sufficiently mentally strong to overpower a member of the Synod. That he _was_ the Kimera-spawn, Da'an did not doubt; he had followed the mental trace here.

"Perhaps you could explain to me _why_ I should trust you, Major Kincaid," he said at last.

The young man's hands dropped, and his shoulders slumped. "As I explained to Zo'or a little while ago--"

"Zo'or was here?"

Major Kincaid regarded him steadily. "Zo'or sent Volunteers and his protector to kidnap me from where I was staying and bring me here."

Da'an frowned. "Why would he do that? The orders of the Synod were quite clear."

"To destroy me?" the major asked softly. "Because of my father? Are you going to destroy me, Da'an?" His eyes remained steady on Da'an, and Da'an felt a touch of unease.

"Why should I not? It is the order of the Synod."

"Because in my world, I'm your sworn protector, Da'an. You chose me _because_ of my Kimera heritage. You have been protecting me from the Synod ever since I was born."

Da'an's hold on his facade slipped and he blushed. "Why would I do such a thing?"

"Because we're on the same side, I suppose," Major Kincaid said. "We have our differences from time to time, but what friends don't?" He was silent for a moment. "Look, Da'an. My shuttle is in the shuttle bay; if you look, you'll see that it's registered to me."

"Such things can be altered."

The major closed his eyes and lowered his head as though he were fatigued. "Then I guess you're going to have to decide whether you will trust me, Da'an, or whether you will follow the order of the Synod and kill me." He raised his head again, his clear green eyes meeting Da'an's. "But if you do, you'll be leaving another Da'an -- my Da'an -- in danger. The only way I could have ended up here was by sabotage. Since the sabotage occurred on the Mothership, I can only assume that it is a plot against you."

Da'an could still sense nothing Kimera in him. It was astounding. He sighed silently. In truth, his decision had been made when he had ordered his implants to find the Kimera-spawn -- to find Major Kincaid -- and bring him alive to the embassy. He moved to the controls for the cell and shut down the barrier, then walked back to the major. At his touch, the magnetic cuffs fell off.

"Thank you." The major massaged his wrists. Da'an could see, as the major's hands turned this way and that, the reddish markings of shaqarava in his palms.

"You are welcome."

The young man offered a raised hand; Da'an met it with his own. Energy flowed between them. Now, Da'an sensed the major's Kimera heritage. He saw...the death of William Boone and subsequent death of Quo'on. He saw the major saving his counterpart's life at Boone's funeral. He saw the young man's swearing-in as the only Companion Protector without a CVI. He saw a confrontation with a Jaridian replicant and the bloom of shaqarava. And then...a shuttle accident leading to the discovery of other universes. The discovery of people who looked like those that Liam knew, but whose personalities were radically different. Except for himself. The death of Sandoval's counterpart and the return to the major's world with Maiya. Her eventual phasing as the universe tried to right itself. He felt the major's repressed fear, then. The young one was afraid because he had been in this dimension for such a short time, but had already started phasing. He needed to get back to his own dimension before he died.

There was also a burning need there to protect his Companion, and Da'an marveled at it. It seemed that friendship and trust could bind a protector to his Companion more surely than any motivational imperative. But that was a consideration for another time.

Da'an knew that he could entrap the young hybrid's mind; the major's psychic senses and skills were, compared to Da'an's own, rudimentary at best. Da'an could hold him close and learn all his secrets, for there was certainly more that the major was not revealing, but he found himself unwilling to do such a thing. Part of it was the trust that the young man offered him, but more than that, was the underlying affection he could sense that the major held for his own Da'an. He considered that Taelon to be a mentor, even a surrogate parent -- for he was very young, Da'an perceived. Though the major looked like a human at the beginning of his third decade, he was, in actuality, not yet a year old. 

He found that he very much wanted to earn for himself the young one's trust. So when the major pulled away without revealing how he had been surviving in Washington, D. C., Da'an allowed the Sharing to end.

"Did you have a plan from here, Major?" Da'an asked. Though his counterpart often called the young man by his given name, Da'an had neither earned nor been given the right to do so.

"When I was brought aboard there was a tech working on my shuttle," Major Kincaid replied. "I was kind of hoping she might have the ID drive repaired. If so, I can calculate the path I need to take to get home and just go. But if repairs aren't complete...." His voice trailed off with a shrug. "I do have a friend on the planet who might be able to repair it. Or I might tinker with it myself. After the last time, I took the precaution of learning a bit about how the ID drives work."

"Does your shuttle have a distortion field?"

The major's forehead creased in what Da'an recognized as perplexity. "A distortion field?"

"Yes. In the terms of your science fiction television shows, I believe it is referred to as a 'cloaking device.'" Da'an had been both impressed by the societal issues tackled in such simple entertainments and amused at how much of space travel they got so very, very, _egregiously_ incorrect

"A cloaking device? Like that used by the Jaridian replicant? If it does, no one has ever told me about it," 

"Perhaps that situation can be remedied. A distortion field would enable you to land the shuttle somewhere on the planet and keep it hidden from sensors until your repairs were complete."

The major's eyes lit up. "That would really come in handy."

"We shall see to it, then. But first, we need to get you away from this place. I do not think it wise for either of us to be here when Zo'or returns."

"The surveillance needs to be wiped. Zo'or can't know that you were here at all. Best if he thinks the Kimera-spawn just disappeared on his own," the major said with a devilish grin. He bent down and picked up the magnetic cuffs, slipping them into his pockets. "Disappeared and took his cuffs with him."

"Perhaps you are correct," Da'an said. That the major had tangled with Zo'or before -- or at least the Zo'or in his home dimension -- and enjoyed thwarting him was obvious. Curious. He stepped back to the cell's controls and manipulated the security feed so that it showed the major simply disappearing from his cell. 

"Nice," the major said, watching over his shoulder. "That ought to keep them guessing."

"Come, Major," Da'an said as he finished his work. "Let us go. We will go to my quarters for now; you'll be safe there until we determine the condition of your shuttle."

He was surprised that the Major made no attempt to hide. He walked openly beside Da'an, his only concession being to match his pace to the Taelon's. He was not acting like a fugitive at all, and Da'an was finally forced to remark on his behavior. To his surprise and amusement, the major's face turned pink -- William Boone had defined such coloration as "blushing" which indicated embarrassment, though he had also heard William Boone describe those moments when a Taelon's energy pathways became visible through his facade as blushing. 

"Sorry. Habit," the major muttered. "My Da'an and I often walk and talk together. Do you not talk to your protector?" He paused. "Who _is_ your protector? I don't appear to exist in this dimension. Is it Boone?"

Da'an's hands moved gracefully. "At the current time, I have three assigned Protectors. Ronald Sandoval is my senior protector. William Boone is the second, and I have recently added Lieutenant Siobhan Beckett to my staff. I believe you were arrested with her yesterday morning."

The major nodded. "Yes. I ran into her in the park, but she wasn't Lieutenant Beckett, she was someone else."

"And you didn't think that odd?"

The major shrugged. "My experience with my first interdimensional trip showed me that familiar faces can belong to very different people. Captain Marquette, for instance -- do you have a Captain Marquette here?" At Da'an's affirmative answer, he continued, "Captain Marquette's double was an evil woman called Kayla while Sandoval's double was a freedom fighter called Jason. It was all very confusing. It was only later that I found out from Agent Lassiter that she actually was Lieutenant Beckett and that she was undercover."

"Undercover?"

"That was the story Agent Lassiter gave me." The major grinned again. "Of course, I wasn't exactly telling him the truth about myself at the time, so...."

"Why did you not just come to me and tell me the truth?" Da'an asked.

"At the time, when I was in the embassy, I wasn't thinking very clearly," the major replied after a moment. "About fifteen minutes after Lassiter released me, I phased for the first time. I woke up in a hospital; not long after that, I overheard some Volunteers saying something about a Kimera-spawn and I got nervous."

"I see." Da'an knew that the major was not being entirely truthful with him, but he supposed it didn't matter. He didn't need to know the major's entire truth in order to help speed him on his way back to his proper universe.

They reached Da'an's quarters without incident. It was still quite early in the ship's day-cycle; the Volunteers were mostly still in their own designated sector of the ship. Any drones they passed ignored them, as always. As soon as the doorway sealed behind them, Da'an waved up the controls of his computer terminal and deleted any surveillance of the major's journey through the ship. He hesitated momentarily, then instructed the ship to ignore the major's energy trace, thereby effectively masking the Kimera from ship's sensors. Now the only way anyone would know that the major existed would be if they saw him. His presence could still be felt through the Commonality, but as demonstrated with Ha'gel, the Commonality could not be used to trace a being's location...unless they were deliberately allowing it, as the major had done with his annoying tune.

Da'an watched as the major wandered around his quarters, looking curiously at the few mementos that Da'an had on display. He paused before Da'an's collection of religious texts from various planets, running a gentle finger down some of the spines; one of the books was Kimera and the major glanced back at Da'an for permission before lifting it from its place and opening it. He read a few pages before looking up at Da'an with a wondering expression on his face.

Da'an tilted his head. "Have you not read it before, Major?"

The wonder was replaced with a wry look, and the major returned the book to its place. "Da'an, Ha'gel was killed before I was born. The only contact I have had with anything Kimera was with a malfunctioning repository ship that was trapping unwary travelers -- including me -- and which I had to convince to destroy itself so that I could escape because I wasn't Kimera enough for it." He turned away from the books and walked to the transparent wall of Da'an's chamber. The current view was of the planet below. Da'an heard his sharp intake of air and saw his shoulders rise, but all he said was, "Nice view you've got here."

"I find it restorative to sometimes contemplate the stars," Da'an said, moving up beside him.

The major glanced at him and nodded. "Yes. So do I."

"This is not, unfortunately, the time for such contemplation," Da'an continued, raising his hand to touch the transparency. "This is the time for formulating a plan to get you away from the Mothership."

The major turned from the view with a slight smile on his face. "I may have an idea about that."

~*~*~

"So how do we find out," Boone said, "one, if Zo'or has Kincaid, and two, if he does, where he stashed him -- without waiting for him to have another seizure?"

All four of them were now seated around the conference table in Boone's office. Beckett had returned the velvet pouch of her runes to her shoulder bag, to Lili's relief. It wasn't that the runes themselves made her uncomfortable. It was that someone so down-to-earth as Siobhan Beckett should accept and rely on their counsel. The last time she had felt this uncomfortable was when Augur had introduced her to his friend Marie. It wasn't Marie's lack of sight that made Lili uncomfortable; it was that she actually did have strong psychic talents.

Lili could hardly discount psychic abilities in Taelons; the Commonality was essentially a huge psychic network. It was harder to accept them in humans, though knowing that they were the result of Taelon interference in human development somehow made it easier. She was used to Taelon manipulation.

Sandoval glanced at Beckett. She nodded and sighed. "Liam can find him."

"You can't seriously be thinking of taking him to the Mothership," Lili objected, horrified at the thought of endangering the child in that manner.

"No, Captain, we're not," Sandoval said. "But we all know that Liam and Kincaid have a psychic link. Normally, that link is inactive, unless they are phasing. But Liam can access it any time he wants."

"We have asked him not to," Siobhan added. "Both for the major's privacy and so that he is not distracted at some critical moment."

"Can the Commonality sense this?" Boone asked. "Is that the reason why they suddenly know that there's a Kimera loose on the planet?"

Siobhan shrugged. "Possibly. That is another reason we have asked Liam to refrain from bothering the major."

"Maybe we should feel Da'an out first," Boone said. "Approach him with our inability to locate the Kimera-spawn and ask for his suggestion. Maybe ask if the Commonality is constantly sensing him or if the connection comes and goes -- if he could be shielding himself in some manner. If there's a way to shield the connection from the Commonality, Da'an will know, and _we_ are going to need to know for Liam's sake once the major has gone home."

"We could just ask Kincaid that," Lili pointed out.

"If we had him," Sandoval said dryly. "Which we do not."

Lili's global chirped; she pulled it from her belt and glanced at the caller ident. "Good morning, Da'an," she said when she answered. "Are you ready to return to the embassy?" Around the table, the other three had fallen silent.

"Good morning, Captain Marquette," the Taelon replied. "Not just yet. There is a matter of some import that I need to discuss with you and Commander Boone. Please come up to the Mothership at once. You will find me in my quarters."

"Of course, Da'an," Lili replied. "We'll be there as soon as we can." She slid the global shut with a frown. "What do you suppose that's about?"

"There's only one way to find out." Boone rose from the table to follow Lili to the shuttle, then paused and spoke to both Sandoval and Beckett. "It's your choice, of course, whether or not to involve Liam in this. He's your son. But first give us a chance to see what Da'an wants."

"Our son is already involved in this whether we want him to be or not, Boone," Sandoval replied. "Major Kincaid involved him just by being here. The best thing we can do for Liam is to help the major get back where he belongs."

"Besides," Beckett added. "You have been a boy yourself, Boone. You know very well that Liam has been peeking in on the major no matter what we told him. It's what children do." She glanced at Lili, who nodded.

"Yeah," Lili agreed. "Every single time my parents told me not to do something, I did it anyway. I just made sure not to get caught."

"I got caught a few times," Boone said with a grin. "We'd better not keep Da'an waiting." With a nod at Sandoval and Beckett, he headed for the shuttle parked in its pad annexed to the building.

Lili followed, allowing him to clamber into the shuttle ahead of her. She settled into the pilot's seat, closing the restraints around herself and activating the virtual glass shield. She waved up the controls and lifted the shuttle from its pad, taking them into interdimensional flight a mere ten feet from the building.

"That was a bit close, don't you think?" Boone asked mildly.

"You were the one who said we shouldn't keep Da'an waiting," she retorted. "Besides, do you think you can do better?"

Boone chuckled. "I defer to the master."

"Damn straight," Lili said. She was, in all modesty, the best non-Taelon shuttle pilot; she was even better than some Taelons when it came right down to it. Even the Taelons themselves admitted to her skill; it was why they had approached her to help design the controls used by human pilots. Taelons did not need them; they were more attuned to the craft on a mental level. She had a few minutes before she needed to pay attention to the controls; she looked back at Boone. "What do you suppose this is about?"

Boone shrugged. "Could be anything, though I do find it odd that he summoned us both to the Mothership right after Kincaid is grabbed by Volunteers possibly working for Zo'or."

"You think it could have something to do with Kincaid? Could he have escaped?"

Boone frowned. "It's possible, but I don't think so. If that were the case, Da'an would have summoned Beckett and Sandoval as well. Or at least Sandoval, even if he didn't want to trust Beckett just yet."

Lili sighed. "I suppose there are all sorts of other schemes going on right now."

"Aren't there always? It might not even be any sort of scheme. He may just want to discuss a security issue but not want to return to the embassy. Could be completely innocuous."

"Do you really believe _that?"_

Boone shook his head. "No."

The controls chimed just then and Lili returned her attention to piloting. "Coming out of interdimensional." She dropped the shuttle into normal space and approached the Mothership, docking smoothly where instructed. She dropped the virtual glass and she and Boone exited the shuttle, walking together to Da'an's quarters. 

Boone waved his hand in front of the door to announce their presence. The door faded away and they entered Da'an's quarters to find him standing before the backdrop of the transparent wall and its magnificent vista.

"Commander Boone," he said, "Captain Marquette. Thank you for coming so quickly." He waved his hand and the doorway sealed behind them. "Please allow me to introduce to you Companion Protector Major Liam Kincaid."


	12. Chapter 12

As Boone and Lili turned, Liam moved forward from the darkened alcove next to a support rib where he had been, to be completely accurate, lurking. The alcove had the advantage of putting him behind whoever came through the door, so he could make sure it really was Boone and Lili, and if not, at least make an attempt to run -- though he really did not expect Da'an to betray him.

As they turned, surprise on both their faces, he extended his hand, and shook first Boone's hand, then Lili's. "Pleased to meet you both."

"What the hell?" Lili mouthed, her brows drawn together.

Liam glanced toward Da'an to find the Taelon watching, so he could not respond other than to squeeze her hand gently in warning.

"Kincaid," Boone said, his eyes glinting. "I knew a Liam Kincaid during the S-I War. Any relation?"

"Not that I know of," Liam replied.

"Well, you must be newly assigned, then, as we haven't met before."

"Actually," Liam said, "I've been on the job for a few months." He looked back at Da'an; Lili and Boone turned so that they, too, were facing the Taelon.

"Commander, Captain," Da'an said, "I must ask you to keep what you are about to hear confidential. Major Kincaid's presence here must be kept as discreet as possible."

"Of course, Da'an," Boone replied, in a respectful tone that Liam hadn't heard from him before. He realized that it must be Boone's "implant" tone. He had gotten used to discussing Resistance matters with Da'an and it only struck him now what a unique position that was. For Boone and Lili, Da'an was still an opposition figure, no matter how much contact with Boone might have changed his personal outlook toward humanity.

"Major Kincaid is, as I said, a Companion Protector," Da'an said. "But you have not met him before, Commander Boone, because he is not from our universe."

Boone frowned and cocked his head. _"Our_ universe?" He looked at Liam with exactly the right expression of confusion.

Liam was impressed.

"Yeah," he said. "I had an accident with the interdimensional drive on my shuttle...and here I am!"

"Is that even possible?" Lili asked skeptically.

"It's not the first time it has happened to me," Liam responded, almost beginning to enjoy the slapstick absurdity of the conversation, which was playing out entirely for Da'an's benefit. Then he reminded himself that he had to be careful, for his own sake as well as for Boone's and Lili's. He could not let Da'an get even a hint that this might not be their first meeting.

"If I may ask, Da'an," Boone said, "why does this need to be kept secret?"

"Because, Commander, Major Kincaid is also the fugitive that you were ordered to search for."

"He's the Kimera?"

_"Part_ Kimera," Liam said. "It's a long story. Let's just say that I'm from an alternate dimension, where I'm Da'an's protector, and if I don't get home there will be consequences, and leave it at that."

"Who else knows you're here, Major?" Lili asked.

"Zo'or, his protector, and a few Volunteers," Liam answered. "Malley and the Volunteers snatched me from where I was staying."

Boone frowned. "Zo'or defied the order of the Synod?"

"So it would appear, Commander." Da'an's expression was not pleased, even though he was also defying the Synod's orders. "That is not the important matter at the moment, however. I will deal with that. Our task is to get Major Kincaid and his shuttle back down to the planet."

"And you need our assistance?" Boone asked, gesturing to himself and Lili.

"Indeed so. Captain, you and I will return to the embassy in your shuttle. Commander, I will be leaving instructions for you to do some research for me and bring it along to the embassy later. The major will be your pilot."

Boone looked critically at Liam. "You said that you were kidnapped by Malley and some Volunteers?"

"That's correct."

"So Zo'or is aware that you are on the ship somewhere?"

"That is also correct."

"Then I think we're going to need to disguise you a bit to get you to the shuttle bay."

"What did you have in mind?"

"How would you like to join the Volunteers, Major?"

"I thought conventional wisdom was that you shouldn't ever volunteer for anything," Liam said, his eyes dancing.

"Perhaps you could see to obtaining the necessary uniform, Commander?" Da'an did not appear to have picked up on the very human humor.

"Of course, Da'an," Boone replied immediately. 

"Very well, then. The data is compiling and downloading. When it is finished, bring it to the embassy. Good luck to you both. Come, Captain." Da'an walked past them and waved his door open.

"Of course, Da'an," Lili said, following. She gave Liam a fierce look in passing that he had no trouble interpreting. He was in so much trouble.

When was he not, though?

As soon as the door sealed behind them, he turned to Boone. "I'm really sorry."

Boone shrugged. "Don't worry about it. This sort of thing actually happens a lot. One of the hazards of being in the Liberation. Wait here; I'll go grab you a uniform. And I suppose I don't need to tell you not to open the door?"

Liam grinned. "No, I think I pretty much understand the concept of hiding out from Zo'or. I have a fair amount of practice in that area."

Boone gave him an answering grin, then waved the door away and left. Liam secured the doorway after him. He wandered over to the bookshelf again and pulled out the Kimera book, running his fingers sadly over the cover and wondering if his Da'an had such a thing. Could he ask? Why not? It would be logical, after seeing this one.

He read until Boone returned with an armful of grey cloth when he regretfully returned the book to its place on the shelf.

Boone seemed to notice his reluctance to part with it. "Good book?"

Liam nodded. "It's Kimera. If any of you ever get a chance to get a recording of it, I think there will come a time when your Liam will appreciate it."

"I'll pass that on." He checked the computer. "Looks like this download is complete." He pocketed the disk. "While I was out picking up the laundry, I called Sandoval to let him and Beckett know what happened. They knew that you had been snatched; the Kid told them."

Liam winced. "Yeah. I was having another seizure when they grabbed me; I couldn't shield him. I hope he's all right."

Boone nodded. "Kids are resilient and he's more resilient than most. He's fine."

Liam sighed in relief. "That's good."

"Sandoval gave me some coordinates for you." He handed over a small disk. "This is a private airfield controlled by the Liberation. There will be a hangar there waiting for the shuttle."

"I don't have my global," Liam said wryly. "Malley didn't give me a chance to pick it up when he extended his invitation to visit Zo'or."

Boone popped the disk into his own global and displayed the data for Liam, who committed it to memory. 

"Okay," he said with a nod.

"You memorized it?"

"Yeah. Good memory, courtesy of Ha'gel." Liam stepped into the jumpsuit which was fortunately loose enough to go over his clothing. Boone had obtained a hat, as well, which he pulled low over his face. "How do I look?"

"Dashing," Boone said. "Let's go." He stopped at the door, motioning for Liam to wait while he checked the corridor, then he ushered Liam through. "Stick close to me. If we run into problems, I'll see if I can't head them off while you just keep going to the shuttle bay. No matter what, you get to the shuttle. Da'an created a legitimate reason for me to be here, so I'll be all right."

"Not to mention the whole 'loyal implant' thing," Liam said softly. "That's another reason for me to get back as soon as I can. If Zo'or is really conspiring against Da'an -- again -- and something happens to Da'an, Zo'or will either implant me or kill me. And if it's the first, then the whole Resistance will be in danger."

"My dad always told me not to borrow trouble," Boone replied, equally softly. "It'll be all right."

It was on the tip of Liam's tongue to say that his father frequently tried to kill him, but he let it go, saying instead, "I'll be glad to get to the shuttle so I can take this hat off. I think it's too small; it's giving me a headache."

"Sorry," Boone said. "I didn't exactly have time to shop for the proper size."

"No, no, it's fine."

They walked through the corridors of the Mothership toward the bay where Liam's shuttle was docked. Now that it was well into the ship's day cycle, there was more traffic than Liam had seen before; they passed drones, Volunteers, even a few Taelons. He really hoped the tech he had seen earlier had the ID drives fixed. It also suddenly occurred to him to hope that she hadn't taken the conventional drive offline because things could get awkward at that point. He could bring it back online, of course, but it would take extra time he might not have.

Well, they'd deal with that if it happened.

In the meantime, he was really starting to hate this hat.

They entered the shuttle bay and Boone immediately swore.

"What?" Liam asked, but then he spotted Malley as well, and added a few choice words of his own. 

"Nice," Boone said. "Was that Chinese?"

"Yeah, I picked it up from a television show Augur had me watch. What do we do?"

"Just keep walking to the shuttle. If he starts paying any attention to us, I'll deal with him. I told you before, don't wait for me."

"You're sure you'll be okay?" Liam really disliked the idea of leaving someone behind, even though he _knew_ that Boone was correct. Not only would he be all right because he had Da'an's backing, but he, Liam, really needed to get away.

"Get on the shuttle, Kincaid," Boone growled softly.

"Going," Liam replied. He headed for his shuttle, sensing Boone straying away from his side. He resolutely did not look, but strolled across the deck as if he belonged there, clambered aboard the shuttle and into the pilot's seat, which afforded him a view of Boone standing directly in front of Malley, not coincidentally blocking Malley's view of the shuttle. Boone's right hand was behind his back, signalling Liam to go.

Liam went. He engaged the virtual glass, waved up the controls, and quickly laid in the course to the airfield, then set the shuttle in motion. With the virtual glass up to obscure his face, he pulled off the hat and tossed it over his shoulder. It didn't really help his headache.

"Um, excuse me," a voice said, just as he dropped the shuttle out of the bay into space.

Startled, he almost dropped his hands from the controls, but remembered at the last moment why that would be a bad idea. It had to be the tech; he glanced over his shoulder and, yes, she was in the back, staring wide-eyed at him.

"You're Major Kincaid," she said. "I saw your identification in the shuttle's records."

"That's me," Liam agreed. "And I'm sorry about this, Volunteer, but I'm afraid that you're going to have to come with me."

And then he did drop his hands from the controls because the universe chose that moment to try once more to unmake him.

~*~*~

Shannon watched in horror as the major seemed to have some sort of fit. While flickers of light played over his body -- which appeared, at times to be fading from sight -- he sat rigid in the pilot's seat, leaving the controls unattended.

As the shuttle started to veer off course, Shannon scrambled forward and, carefully avoiding the major, stabbed the control for the auto-pilot. That would keep the shuttle on its programmed course using the conventional drive -- which was good, since the interdimensional drive wasn't yet operational.

With a last flare of bright light, the major's fit ended; he slumped forward toward the console with a quiet sigh, but Shannon caught his sagging body before he could disrupt the controls.

"Major! Major, can you hear me?" 

She wasn't really surprised when he didn't respond. 

He was heavier than he looked, almost pushing her across the plane of the control interface. She set her feet and braced him against her shoulder while she tried to get the seat restraints open, but she couldn't manage it without either interfering with the controls herself or dropping the major into them.

"Think, Shan," she hissed. "You wanted to be a pilot; how would you fix this?"

Her implant was intended to enhance physical aspects such as strength, speed, and endurance -- so if necessary, she could hold the major where he was indefinitely -- but in an instance like this, the implant worked with the adrenaline in her system to enable her to think more quickly. Oh, it had nothing on a CVI, but it was still useful. Now, that speed and clarity of thought allowed her to consider the problem from several angles to come up with a solution before the shuttle had flown more than a couple of miles from the Mothership. 

With the auto-pilot on, there was really no need for the control display, so it could be dismissed while the computer ran the shuttle. Then, even if one of them crossed the plane of the controls or touched the console, as long as they didn't make the specific motion that summoned the interface, they would be fine. However, if the major was a fugitive, she thought, remembering that he had come aboard the Mothership as a prisoner, and eyeing his Volunteer jumpsuit askance, then there was the likelihood of pursuit. With the auto-pilot engaged, they wouldn't be able to evade pursuers. One of them needed to be actively flying the ship -- and it looked like it was going to have to be her.

First things first. Shannon slowly turned, keeping herself between the major and the console and dismissed the control interface. That done, she carefully laid the major's head and shoulders on the console, then pulled his seat restraints open; she definitely needed him out of the seat if she was to take over.

He was too tall for her to move into one of the passenger seats, so as gently as she could, she maneuvered him to the floor more or less behind the pilot's seat. Once the major, still unconscious, was settled, Shannon took the pilot's position and waved the controls back to life. She studied the settings a moment to make sure she knew where the major wanted to go, then with a deep breath, she disengaged the auto-pilot and took control of the craft, putting on a burst of speed while she was at it

In the course of her Volunteer career, Shannon had learned everything she possibly could about shuttles, such as how much speed could be coaxed out of the conventional drives. But she also knew that the energy signature could be traced if the craft wasn't equipped with a distortion field -- and this shuttle wasn't. Still, there wasn't much to be done but hope that whereever the major was planning to land, there were enough other things going on to mask the shuttle's signature.

And the major's own energy, she thought, remembering with dismay what Alex had told her at breakfast. The Mothership had been scanning for weird energies on the planet. _They were looking for him,_ she realized. _And someone found him._ Protector Malley had brought him aboard the Mothership...and Protector Malley was assigned to Zo'or. Therefore, Zo'or had ordered it done.

Shannon shivered. Zo'or frightened her.

There had to be some way to mask both unique energy signatures, she thought, but she really wasn't enough of an engineer to figure it out. When it came down to it, she was a shuttle mechanic with a bit of flight experience. She would just have to hope that things turned out for the best.

She had wondered earlier what she could do to help the major. This, apparently, was it. She resolutely pushed away thoughts of being drummed out of the Volunteer corps -- or worse -- when this was over.

She glanced down at Major Kincaid's huddled body and sent a prayer winging into the universe.

~*~*~

Boone's conversation with Malley was short, just long enough to mask Kincaid's departure. As it happened, Boone had needed to speak to Malley about a joint appearance that Da'an and Zo'or were making in a few days, anyway; hopefully Malley's suspicions would not be raised. He might or might not notice that the shuttle was missing; with luck, another would be parked in that spot before he realized that the one he was watching was gone.

There was one more thing to be done before he could portal back to the embassy. As he left the shuttle bay, walking toward a portal station, he pulled out his global and placed a call. 

"Augur," he said, as soon as his friend answered. "The shuttle's away. Do your thing." Then he noticed Augur's worried expression. "What is it?"

"Boone, Kincaid phased again," Augur reported. "He was shielding the Kid, and Liam reports that he's unconscious. I'm tracing the shuttle now; it looks like he managed to put it on auto-pilot, but if he doesn't wake up before it gets to the surface, it can't land."

Boone's jaw clenched. "Acknowledged," he said. "We'll just have to hope for the best, Augur. Is Liam keeping an eye on him?"

Augur nodded. "So to speak. Julianne is with the kid, so Melissa is here at the airfield."

"All right. I have to get back to the embassy and explain to Da'an that the shuttle won't be landing there." He closed his global and strode down the corridor.

The portal station was tucked into a large alcove between support ribs. It was habitually unguarded, a lapse that Boone, were he in charge of Mothership security, would never have allowed. He had suggested that it should be guarded, but his suggestion had been ignored. It wasn't that easy to set the coordinates on a long-range portal; the Taelons believed that untrained personnel wouldn't be able to manage it. He supposed the lack of guards would work in his favor should he ever need to leave the ship quickly, but he was also cynically certain that should such an occasion arise, that would be when the Taelons would leave a squad of Volunteers on guard. 

After the Taelons' earlier experiments on portal users, he was not at all fond of the portal system, but at least his CVI would notify him if there were any delay between departure and arrival. Unlikely, though. He was reasonably certain that those particular experiments had been abandoned. There were others, though. There were always others; many of them, Da'an either did not know about or did not choose to inform his loyal implants about.

Boone entered the coordinates to Da'an's audience chamber and, with a resigned sigh, stepped between the portal's tines.


	13. Chapter 13

Melissa Park shaded her eyes from the bright sun and watched the shuttle glide down from the cloudless sky. It had not appeared suddenly from ID space as shuttles usually did, which indicated that whatever else was going on, the interdimensional drive was still offline. The old airfield where she and Augur waited anxiously was small -- little more than a smooth meadow without even a paved runway. The hangar itself was large enough to house several small aircraft; the previous owner had been a small plane enthusiast and mechanic in his spare time. Jonathan had acquired the land and had maintained it as is, though he had added significantly to the hangar's amenities. With interior shielding, a kitchen, offices, and barracks, it could now function as a small Resistance base if need be. She stood to one side of the yawning hangar doors, well out of the way of the approaching craft. Augur had warned her that if the major didn't regain consciousness by the time the shuttle arrived, it could not land, but as the insectile craft came nearer, she could see that the craft was not on auto-pilot, but even through the virtual glass shield, she could tell that the pilot was too short to be the tall, lanky major. She frowned. 

"That's not Major Kincaid," she said to Augur, who was pressing the controls to close the hangar doors even as the shuttle turned neatly to face the exit and settled to the ground all in one smooth motion. She suddenly felt exposed. It was possible that this was a trap of some sort, especially with Da'an's involvement in the major's escape from the Mothership. She and Augur had no security here; Jonathan had refused to send anyone else. He hadn't even been willing to allow her to come until Julianne Belman showed up at the headquarters and ordered her to go. Jonathan might lead the Liberation as a whole, but Julianne was in charge of the medical staff, and it was clear that he did not want to cross her. 

A shiver crawled down her spine; the last time she had felt like this had been during the war. She had sworn never to hold a weapon again, but now she found her fingers curling as if looking for that reassuring weight. She shook her head. She was a physician. Even during the war she had never fired her weapon. That didn't mean that she didn't know how to use it, however.

The virtual glass melted away, revealing a young woman in the grey uniform of a Mothership Volunteer. Strawberry-blonde, five-foot-six, one-thirty, good physical shape, too far away to make out eye color, usual implant, all of which the doctor catalogued automatically. Beside Melissa, Augur swore, and pulled a small energy pistol from his belt. The young woman raised her hands, but Melissa was already moving; she understood the expression of distress on the Volunteer's face.

"Please," the Volunteer called, "we need help here."

"Melissa!" Augur hissed. "Stay back."

"It's all right, Augur," she replied over her shoulder. "She's no threat to us. She brought the major."

Augur swore again, but by that time, Melissa was already close enough to the shuttle to see the limp body on the floor. She climbed past the Volunteer into the cramped confines of the craft.

"He had some sort of fit and then he passed out," the Volunteer said, as Melissa put two fingers to the major's carotid artery. His pulse was a little fast, but nothing alarming. His skin was clammy, but again, that was not unexpected. She shifted him onto his back, dimly aware that the Volunteer was climbing down out of the shuttle under Augur's watchful gaze. She peeled back an eyelid; she didn't have a penlight, but it was bright enough that she could see the pupil react. Good. Just as she was reaching for the other one, the major regained consciousness with a start. She sat back, waiting as he frowned up at her, then his gaze went past her and took in his surroundings.

"Dr. Park?" 

He had been formal with her since he had realized that she was not his Melissa and he did not have permission to call her by name. While Beckett and Sandoval were doing their best to make sure little Liam was raised with excellent manners, Melissa was a little surprised by the major's courtesy, given that he had effectively been raised by no one. There might be something to be said for the "nature" side of the "nature versus nurture" argument, after all, given the story the major had told about his birth and rapid growth. On the other hand, the major did have all of those inborn memories to draw upon.

"We seem to be making a habit of this, Major," she replied. "I have to say that as a physician I do not approve."

"How did you get here?" There was genuine confusion in his face and she realized that he thought the shuttle was either still in flight or still on the Mothership.

"Can you sit up, Major?"

He seemed to think about it for a moment, then worked himself into a sitting position. There wasn't much room between the pilot's seat and the passenger seats, especially for his lanky frame, but it was less of a problem with the virtual glass down. Melissa watched, but did not help; she needed to see what he could manage for himself. His movements were tentative at first, but became steadier and more sure as the seconds passed. He was clearly recovering quickly.

He frowned at the Volunteer, who was standing outside the shuttle watching, her hands still in the air. Augur stood slightly behind her, his pistol trained on her, but his eyes on what was happening in the shuttle.

"Can you tell me what happened, Major?" 

He looked back at Melissa with a nod; she could see that he now realized where he was. "You know that Malley kidnapped me?" At her nod of affirmation, he continued, "They took me to the Mothership...which was good, I guess, since I needed to get there, anyway. I was just leaving with my shuttle when I had another seizure."

"And the Volunteer?" 

"She was in the shuttle, but I didn't notice her until I was already in flight. She must have brought us down."

He stood and climbed down out of the shuttle while Melissa watched carefully. He seemed to be mostly recovered, and there was little she could do about the phasing, so there was no point in demanding that he rest. Though she would have to make sure to get some food into him soon; she was betting he hadn't eaten since last night. She climbed down out of the shuttle herself, and stood to one side, watching.

He approached the Volunteer, but looked past her to Augur. "That's not necessary, Augur. She helped me."

"She's a Volunteer," Augur insisted.

The major tilted his head. "Yes," he conceded. "She is. And I'm a Companion Protector, so maybe you should be holding that gun on me."

"That's different," Augur said, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. Melissa hid her smile. The major was good.

"Augur," the major said, "we're not defined by our jobs. She helped me. For that matter, _Da'an_ helped me. He's the reason I got out of the cell Zo'or had me tossed into."

The major turned to the Volunteer. "What's your name?"

"Shannon," she replied. "Shannon Kelly."

"And why did you help me, Shannon?"

"I --" She looked over her shoulder at Augur, then back at the major. "How could I not?" she said simply.

"Saving herself," Augur said, but Melissa could tell that he was really just arguing for the sake of arguing now.

"If I were saving myself," the Volunteer retorted over her shoulder, "I'd've flown us back onto the Mothership. That shuttle didn't come down on auto-pilot, you know."

Melissa bit back a grin, but the major didn't bother. He flashed a smile at the Volunteer, then turned it on both her and Augur. With a roll of his eyes and a shaken head, Augur stowed his pistol. 

"Fine," he grumbled. "Whatever. I need to get to work; we need to get the ID drive back online."

"I can help," the Volunteer -- Shannon, Melissa reminded herself -- said.

Augur gave her an unimpressed look. "Can you now?"

"Sure. I'm a shuttle technician. It's why I was in the shuttle to begin with."

~*~*~

"Commander Boone," Da'an greeted him. "Why are you not in the shuttle with Major Kincaid?"

Boone stepped out of the portal. He fished in his pocket and handed the data disk to Da'an -- always complete your spurious tasks in order to maintain your cover story. A quick glance around the audience chamber showed that Da'an was alone. He wondered if Lili was lurking somewhere or if Da'an had sent her on another errand. For that matter, Sandoval or Beckett should have been somewhere in the room, but then Boone remembered that they were not supposed to be in on the secret of Major Kincaid. "There was a complication, Da'an, and we had to improvise."

"Explain this complication, please."

"Zo'or's protector was in the shuttle bay, probably searching for the major. I distracted him while Kincaid stole back his shuttle."

"And you are certain that the major's shuttle launched as planned?"

"Yes, Da'an, it was gone when I turned around."

"Then the major should be arriving here at any time."

Boone took a step forward. This was the tricky part. "He won't be coming to the embassy, Da'an."

"Please explain, Commander." Da'an's face was stern at the contravention of his orders regarding the major, but as always, he appeared to be willing to listen to Boone's reasoning. Boone wondered sometimes if Da'an suspected that his motivational imperative was non-functional. He knew that he wasn't quite as good at playing the loyal implant as Sandoval, and he knew that his charade was unlikely to last. He could hope it would last long enough to get Da'an firmly on humanity's side. The Taelon was already much more sympathetic toward Earth than he had been when Boone accepted the Liberation's offer -- that was the chief reason Boone kept at it instead of simply disappearing; he had long since realized that Jonathan's efforts to get rid of the Taelons were futile. The Companions were too well integrated into Earth society; at this point, humanity _needed_ the Taelons -- but they needed cooperation, not subjugation. Quo'on listened to Da'an. As Da'an warmed toward humanity, so did Quo'on. He suspected that the Taelons needed humanity, as well, but whatever had truly brought them to Earth might never be known for certain.

"It is for your own protection, Da'an. You have already risked much to aid the major, given the Synod's order to eliminate him. The major suggested the strategy; he told me that he knew of a place where he could hide the shuttle, and that he had a friend with whom he had already made contact who could help him repair it. It seemed the wiser course to let him go his own way rather than to bring him to the embassy and endanger your standing with the Synod -- as Zo'or has endangered his."

Da'an stared at Boone for a long while, blue eyes boring into brown, as if he were searching out Boone's true thoughts. Boone was beginning to sweat -- not entirely metaphorically -- when at last the Taelon slowly blinked, releasing the Protector from his gaze.

"Once again you demonstrate your wisdom, Commander Boone," Da'an said, retreating to his throne-like chair. Boone followed behind and offered his arm to steady the Companion as he stepped onto the high dais. Da'an turned and gracefully seated himself. "Did the major leave any indication of where he has gone? I had intended to have his shuttle fitted with a distortion field. A gift, if you will."

"I believe I can get in touch with him, Da'an."

"Please do so, Commander. I will have the necessary equipment delivered to your office. Captain Marquette is waiting to transport you there."

"Thank you, Da'an," Boone said. He made the Taelon salute and walked up the ramp toward the shuttle deck. He was certain he was not imagining the almost physical weight of Da'an's gaze on his retreating back.


	14. Chapter 14

Shannon wriggled into a more comfortable position. The drive spaces on the shuttles had never been designed with bulky human technicians in mind and some of the components were difficult to reach. But since the shuttle technologies had been developed by the energy-based Taelons long before they had even thought of leaving their own solar system, that was only logical. Some components could be reached easily enough with the drive partially powered, while to get to others, the drive had to be completely powered down because if a matter-based human touched them, the result could range from injury to destruction of the shuttle along with the unfortunate technician. That fused component had to come out, and for that to happen, an entire conduit section had to be removed. Fortunately, she had already had the necessary replacement parts in the shuttle when the major stole it -- and her.

She had already skinned out of her grey jumpsuit to get the loose cloth out of the way; clad only in her dark tank top and leggings, she now lay on her back with her head and shoulders partly in the drive space reaching backwards over her head to get to the conduits that she wanted to disconnect first. The drive was still partially powered up to provide enough light for her to work by; consequently, her movements were delicate and precise. If she slipped and touched any other portions of the drive, the _best_ result would be a nasty burn. She did not concern herself with that outcome; she was, in all modesty, good at what she did.

Some of Augur's computer equipment was set up on the floor of the shuttle near the pilot's seat. He monitored the power levels carefully while she worked. She had shown him the device fused into the interdimensional drive earlier after the doctor had dragged the major away to feed him. For his part, the major had tried to refuse, claiming to not be hungry, but Dr. Park had insisted.

"I promised Siobhan that I would take care of you, Major," Dr. Park said. "You wouldn't want to disappoint her, would you?"

Shannon's ears had pricked up at the name -- but they couldn't possibly be talking about Lieutenant Beckett. That would be entirely too much of a coincidence. 

"I need to help with the shuttle," the major had said, glancing her way as if begging her to help him. Shannon, however, had already sized up the doctor as someone not to tangle with.

She flapped her hands in a shooing motion. "There isn't room in there for more than one person at a time, Major Kincaid."

"Have you had breakfast?" he tried.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. I was just starting my shift when you kidnapped me." She grinned to show that she was joking, and he smiled slightly in response.

"Come along, young man," Dr. Park said, in a tone that Shannon would have expected her to use with a small child. "Breakfast. No more arguments."

Kincaid had sighed loudly, but followed willingly enough.

"How's it going in there?" Augur asked, bringing her attention back to the matter at hand.

"Nearly there," she replied. She rerouted the power from the conduit she needed to remove to a secondary channel, waited for the conduit to go completely dark, and clamped first one side, then the other. She wriggled back out of the drive space, turned over onto her stomach, and reached back in. This time, she put her left hand under the strange device, then cut the conduits free with a laser scalpel. A moment later, she was backing out of the drive space, the device nestled in her left hand. 

"That's it?" Augur asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. I think it was actually intended to destroy the shuttle instead of just sending it skittering sideways across dimensions. Though, I suppose if someone wanted to get rid of Major Kincaid," she added slowly, "this works just as well."

"The theory is that it was activated just as the ID drive was," Augur said. "Kincaid says it has happened to him before."

Shannon hadn't heard that part. "Really?"

Augur nodded, pushing a metal tray toward her. She deposited the slagged remnants of the device and the attached conduits onto it. Augur wanted to analyze both. "Yeah. He wouldn't tell us who did it, just that someone had attempted to kill him that way once before and he'd ended up in a really weird parallel dimension."

"How'd he get back that time?"

"Well, my counterpart from his world was with him and repaired the shuttle." He pointed his finger at her. "So don't think you're irreplaceable, Volunteer Kelly."

Even on this short an acquaintance, she was beginning to get a feel for when Augur was teasing; he seemed to be rarely serious. And terribly full of himself, too. But she had heard of the mysterious Seer, the hacker who went by the name Augur, and if half the rumors were true, he had some reason to be cocky. 

"He's Liberation, isn't he. You're all Liberation." 

She hadn't meant to say that; it had just slipped out. But she knew she was right by the way his hands stilled on his keyboard and he didn't immediately deny it. When he met her eyes, after a long hesitation, his face was sterner than she had yet seen it, sterner even than it had been when he'd been holding the pulse gun on her. But all he said was, "What makes you say that?"

She shrugged. "Don't let the uniform fool you. I'm not stupid."

Augur flicked a finger against the tray holding the severed pieces of drive conduit and the sabotage device. "No, you're clearly not stupid, but that doesn't explain why you'd make such wild accusations against a Companion Protector -- even if he isn't from this dimension."

Shannon sighed and folded her legs into a more comfortable sitting position on the shuttle's floor. This still left her meeting Augur's eyes from above, but he seemed disinclined to leave the hangar floor. Easier for him to get to his weapon or summon help should she prove to be a threat after all, she thought.

"Okay," she said, "first, if he had Da'an's help to get away from Zo'or, then why didn't we go to the embassay? And, second, if you weren't Liberation, you wouldn't have been quite so upset upon seeing me in the shuttle."

"Maybe I just don't like Volunteers," Augur said. "You can dislike the Taelons and their lackeys without being Liberation, you know."

"And you can be a Volunteer without swallowing the Taelon party line, too," Shannon shot back.

"Why did you become a Volunteer, then?"

Both Shannon and Augur turned at the unexpected voice. Major Kincaid and Dr. Park had come out of the back part of the hangar; apparently the major had finished his breakfast. Shannon wasn't sure what expression she had expected, but there was only simple curiosity on the major's face, unlike the borderline accusation from Augur.

She met the major's eyes, blue to green. "Do you really want to know?"

"I do." He ambled up to the shuttle, leaning casually on the forward stabilizer fin, his arms crossed over his chest.

He looked better, Shannon thought, running a critical eye over him, though he still didn't look exactly well. Although he had shed the Volunteer uniform, he was still wearing the same clothes he had been wearing when dragged aboard the Mothership so early this morning, and he could use a shave. He was obviously weary and she thought maybe he might have a headache, given the way he squinted slightly in the light -- she recognized the symptoms from her mother's migraines. Still, he did appear to be recovering from his seizure earlier.

"Fine. But if I tell you, you have to answer my question."

"Now wait just a minute," Augur started, but he fell silent when the major held up a hand.

"I will answer your question for myself only."

Augur snorted, but said nothing, his attention seemingly on his computer once more.

Shannon sighed. "Fine. Do you know who Lili Marquette is? Or Siobhan Beckett?"

"They both exist in my world," the major said with an unreadable expression, though she thought she saw a little more stiffness than before in his supposedly casual pose. "Captain Marquette is a shuttle pilot, Agent Sandoval's aide. Lieutenant Becket...died not too long ago."

Shannon had heard the hesitation and was watching, so she saw the pain that flitted across the major's face and vanished behind the casual facade. "She was your friend?"

Again, a minute hesitation, before he nodded. "Yes."

"She is my cousin," Shannon said. "She was one of my reasons for joining the Volunteers. The other was Captain Marquette. I wanted to be a shuttle pilot."

"Cousin?" There was an indefinable note in the major's voice now. Something like...longing?

Shannon nodded, wondering. "Yeah. Second or third cousins; my Irish granny could tell you the exact relationship. Gran'll be so glad to find out that Cousin Siobhan turned up alive."

"If you wanted to be a pilot," Augur said, "how did you end up a technician?"

Shannon shrugged. _"Everyone_ wants to be a pilot. I turned out to be a competent, but not exceptional, pilot so I ended up a tech. At least I still get to fly once in a while." She thought she did an admirable job of keeping the bitterness out of her voice.

"And I was glad you were there today," the major acknowledged. "I didn't say it before, but thanks."

Shannon ducked her head in a nod. "You're welcome."

"So," the major said, "to answer your question...yes. I'm Liberation. Though in my world, we're starting to call ourselves the Resistance."

"But you're Da'an's protector!"

The major shrugged. "It's a long story. Let's just say that there were compelling reasons for both choices and leave it at that. As for being Da'an's protector, I swore to protect him and I will always honor that oath. You're going to have to make a choice, too, Shannon. When the shuttle is repaired, you're going to have to decide whether you're going back to the Mothership or not."

Shannon lowered her eyes to her hands, counting the small scars that she carried like all techs. She rather thought she had made her choice when she landed the shuttle here instead of on the Mothership, but when she looked up and met the major's green eyes, all she said was, "I know."

~*~*~

Liam watched from the small lounge area -- just a couple of plastic chairs and a plastic table -- across the hangar as Shannon and Augur conferred about the parts for his shuttle. She was his cousin. He had never considered that he might have extended family. While he knew that his Beckett grandparents were still alive, he had never thought that there might be other family out there. He knew that his Sandoval grandparents were deceased -- as, of course, were any Kimera relations, since Ha'gel had been the last of that ancient space-faring race.

He wished, suddenly, fiercely, that he could stay in this dimension where Siobhan and Sandoval were raising their son together, where he had _family_ , but it was impossible. He had responsibilities -- to Da'an, to the Resistance, to whatever destiny Ha'gel had burdened him with. But more than that, he knew what would happen should he stay too much longer. Like Maiya and Isabel, he and young Liam would be drawn together as the universe tried to right the imbalance caused by his presence, and forced to merge...and one of them would die. 

He had already resolved his course of action should such a thing appear to be happening. He would not -- could not, in good conscience -- allow young Liam to die because of him. He understood Maiya's choice, now, and why she had urged Isabel to fight. This was not his home; he could not be allowed to disrupt it further.

"Penny for your thoughts," Dr. Park offered, seating herself in a chair next to his.

"I was just thinking about family, actually," Liam replied. "It never occurred to me that Siobhan had extended family." He nodded in Shannon's direction. "I was just thinking that it would be nice to be able to stay here."

Dr. Park looked toward the Volunteer, then turned back toward Liam. "You didn't know your mother very long, did you?"

Liam shook his head. "No. She was unconscious for most of the time she was with the Liberation -- and when I grew up, Doors had Augur take me away. She died just a few months after I was born. She only ever knew me as a colleague until just before her death."

"You said her CVI failed?"

Liam nodded. "Yes," he said, his eyes once more on Shannon and Augur.

"What happened?" Dr. Park's voice was gentle.

Liam closed his eyes as he remembered that awful day, desperate to reach his mother in time, hoping to save her, but knowing that he wasn't going to. Finding her already dying, and holding her in his arms. Giving her the only thing he could, the knowledge that she had borne the child she so desperately had wanted. In as few words as possible, he told the doctor the story.

"Doors ordered the Resistance doctor to sabotage her CVI," he said, leaving out Melissa's name so as not to upset Dr. Park, "so that if she ever remembered me or her time in the base, it would overload and kill her. It might have been damaged during the procedure. It might also have just given out; she'd had it for a few years already." He shrugged. "Either way...."

"Either way you were deprived of your mother," Dr. Park said quietly. "I'm sorry, Major."

Liam met her eyes for the first time. "Thanks."

"And," Dr. Park continued, eyeing him shrewdly, "because she never knew you as her son until the end, you never knew about her extended family."

"Exactly," Liam said. "I did go to her funeral, so I knew that she had some family, but there were apparently a lot more people than I thought."

The _crack_ of a shuttle exiting interdimensional space sounded right over the hangar; Liam saw Augur duck as though it was going to come down through the roof. He jumped out of his chair and quickly crossed to where Augur and Shannon were working. 

"Augur, take Shannon and Dr. Park into the back, please," he said. "Take your gun."

"But--" Shannon started to protest.

"Please," Liam said. "I can take care of myself, and if you get caught with me, you'll be in trouble."

"C'mon," Augur said, grabbing her arm and towing her behind him toward the back. Dr. Park was holding the door for them. "Be careful, kid."

He sounded so much like Liam's Augur that for a moment, he allowed himself to pretend. Then he shook himself. "Go," he said, shooing Augur away even as he moved toward the hangar doors.

"Going," Augur replied, already halfway to the back.

There was a smaller door to one side of the larger doors; Liam opened it a crack and peered out, watching the shuttle settle to the ground some yards away from the hangar. He reached into the still place inside where the energy that fed his shaqarava lived; his palms began to glow as the energy flowed to his hands. The virtual glass shield dissolved and he recognized Lili in the pilot's seat. Boone moved past her while she was still disengaging the shuttle's systems for shut-down. 

"Hello, the hangar," the auburn-haired Protector called, ambling toward the door. "Don't shoot."

Liam's shoulders slumped in relief and the light in his palms faded away. He opened the door wider and leaned out. "Next time, don't give us a collective heart attack."

"Sorry," he said cheerfully. "Da'an sent us with a present." He eyed Liam keenly, and said, in a lower voice, "Are you okay, Kincaid? We heard that you had another seizure."

"Yeah, I'm all right," Liam replied. He frowned. "Da'an doesn't know about this place, does he?"

"Of course not," Lili said as she caught up to Boone, a box in her hands.

"I had to explain that you weren't coming to the embassy," Boone said as Liam held the door for him, "and I said that you had given me a way to contact you."

"And so we come bearing gifts," Lili said. "Which, before you ask, were thoroughly scanned for tracking devices before we came." She handed the box to Liam.

"What is it?"

"It's the parts for the distortion field," Boone answered. "Da'an said he promised you one."

Liam's eyes lit up. "The Resistance is going to love this." They would, too. A way to make his shuttle undetectable? It would be of immense value. Augur and the other Resistance scientists had been trying to figure out the Jaridian probe's cloaking device, but so far they had had no luck. This, though, would allow them to make a lot of headway against Zo'or's hidden projects if they could raid the labs with no warning at all. He'd have to keep it hidden from Da'an, otherwise his participation in such raids would be obvious. Da'an didn't entirely approve of his participation with the Resistance, Liam knew, but so far, the Companion had kept Liam's secrets.

Lili smiled. "It does come in handy."

"You have one?"

"All of our shuttles are equipped with them. I'm really surprised yours isn't." 

Liam shrugged. "Maybe the technology hasn't yet been developed where I come from."

"Possible, I suppose," Lili replied. "There have to be _some_ differences between our worlds." 

"I can point to a big one right now," Boone said wryly, cocking a thumb at his chest. He glanced around the hangar. "Where are Augur and Dr. Park? I thought Jonathan sent them here?"

"I sent them in the back when we heard your shuttle," Liam said. "Listen, there's someone else here, too, so I don't know if you two should stay."

Boone frowned as he looked sharply toward the door to the back portion of the hangar. His arm rose, the slight glow of his skrill visible under his sleeve.

Liam moved into a position between Boone and the door. "Calm down, Boone. Da'an sent you, remember? It's the Volunteer who was working on my shuttle. She was in it when I stole it back, so I sort of ended up stealing her as well. When I phased again she was the one who brought us here."

"Does she know?" Lili hissed, her hand on her weapon.

Liam shrugged uncomfortably, his hands still full of the box of parts. "She knows that I'm Resistance."

"And Augur and Melissa?" Boone asked, his eyes returning to Liam's face.

"She suspects," Liam confirmed. "You can't hurt her, Boone. She's Siobhan's cousin."

"Which means she's your cousin, too," Lili said, her brows drawing together. 

Liam nodded. "Well, sort of, anyway. I'll have to look her up when I get home and see if she joined the Volunteers there. She said that she joined because of Siobhan, and because of you, Lili. She wanted to be a pilot like you."

Lili looked momentarily surprised. "While that's flattering, I'm going to assume that she didn't make it."

Liam shrugged around the box in his arms. "She described herself as a good but not exceptional pilot, which is why she's a tech. But all things considered, I think she has to be a little better than just good; she took over the shuttle from an unconscious pilot and landed it where it was supposed to go."

"Not everyone is cut out to be a pilot, Liam," Lili said gently.

"I know. It's just...I understand why she wants it, Lili. Flying is...it's just...it's the best part of working for the Taelons."

Lili holstered her gun and clapped him on the shoulder. "Spoken like a true pilot," she said with a grin.

"You know," Boone said thoughtfully, "I think Lili and I are safe enough. I told Da'an that you gave me your contact information _and_ he gave us a legitimate errand. Why don't you go ask her to come out here? But...ask Dr. Park and Augur to stay where they are for now."

Liam narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Boone, wondering what he was up to, but the commander only gave him a small innocent smile that Liam suspected was probably the same smile that Boone gave Da'an when he was trying to allay the Taelon's suspicions. Whatever the commander's intent was, however, it was derailed by the universe grabbing Liam and shaking him like a terrier shaking a rat. The box of parts tumbled from his arms, and he followed it to the ground, where he lay, spasming and helpless, as violent energy flowed over his body.

He was dimly aware of Boone bellowing something, before he remembered that he had to shield his young counterpart. He tried to pull together the mental shield to separate him from the boy, but he was so tired. It was getting harder and harder for him to concentrate when he phased; he could _feel_ himself fading, as the universe tried to absorb his atoms and correct the imbalance. This was important, though. He had to protect the boy. He had to.... Grimly, he pulled together the tattered shreds of his concentration and summoned the mental energy to erect the shield that would keep little Liam from phasing.

There were voices calling to him, summoning him by name. He could hear Dr. Park and Dr. Belman, Da'an, Lili, Boone, Augur, Jonathan Doors...it seemed as though everyone he had ever known was suddenly shouting his name at him. It was a cacophony of two syllables, over and over and over, with no rhythm, until it was just noise, a roaring in his ears and in his mind. He fought to bring his hands to his ears, to block the sound, but his hands were glowing, and the noise was building, and....

...and then it stopped. 

Liam, gasping, found himself being held down on the floor of the hangar. Augur was lying across his legs, and looking from side to side, he found Lili and Boone each holding down one of his arms while staying as far away from his hands as they could. His shaqarava were glowing with cold, brilliant blue-white energy, and he suddenly remembered attempting to commit suicide when he thought he was going to kill everyone in the Liberation hideout. 

Shannon hovered in the background, a worried expression on her face, her hands to her mouth, her wide blue eyes on his shaqarava. Of more immediate concern, though, was Dr. Park standing over him with a raised hypodermic in her hand. She lowered it slightly when he met her eyes.

"Major," the doctor said calmly, "can you hear me?"

"Yes," he replied hoarsely. "What happened?"

"You phased again," Dr. Park said. "I was about to give you an anti-seizure medication to see if that would help, but it stopped on its own. I am concerned about your shaqarava, though. Can you extinguish them?"

Liam closed his eyes and thought about his shaqarava. He willed them to go out, and knew he had succeeded when first Boone, then Lili, released his arms, and Augur rolled off his legs. He opened his eyes.

"Well, that was fun," Boone remarked, leaning back on his hands, his brown eyes steady on Liam's face.

"Only the best entertainment available here," Liam agreed gamely, lying where he was for the moment, waiting for his heart rate to slow to something approaching normal. 

"Yeah, speak for yourself, Boone," Augur said, lying on his side, his arm propping up his head.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Major," Dr. Park said, "but these episodes are coming closer together are they not?" Liam saw her bend down and pick something up from the floor, then watched as she carefully fitted a cover over the syringe's bare needle.

He considered it. The first time had been yesterday late morning. Then again at dinner time. But the next time had been very early this morning, then about three hours ago as he was leaving the Mothership. 

"I don't know," he responded thoughtfully, "it seems kind of random to me. And the intensity of the episodes seems to vary."

"What exactly was going on with the shaqarava?" Lili asked. She, too, was still sitting on the floor, though she was sitting tailor-fashion, with her back straight.

Liam rolled his head to look at her. "I don't know," he repeated wearily. "What were you two doing?"

"Trying to keep you from touching your head with them," Lili said. "It really didn't look safe."

Liam thought once again of his suicide attempt and shuddered. "No," he said shortly. "It probably wasn't. I don't know what was going on, though."

That wasn't, strictly speaking, a lie. He didn't _know_ what had happened, but from what he remembered of the episode, he thought maybe the universe, having failed to dispel him on its own, was trying to trick his own mind into doing it instead. He had been attempting to block the noise in his head, but as Lili said, if he had discharged his shaqarava, well...he wouldn't have to worry about getting home.

"I think, Major," Shannon said, speaking for the first time, and echoing his thoughts, "that maybe it's time we got you home."


	15. Chapter 15

Shannon poked through the parts for the distortion field generator, making a face as she saw that some of them had been damaged when the major had dropped the box. Some even appeared to have sustained energy damage, probably from the moments _before_ the box had fallen.

Augur, watching her, asked, "What is it?"

Shannon explained what she had found, sorting once again through the box. She sighed and began unloading the parts onto the work table that Augur had carried near the shuttle; she was beginning to think that there was too much damage to install a working field generator, but she would see what she could do.

Augur poked at his computer at the other end of the table. "You seem to be taking all that in stride."

Shannon glanced up, but he appeared absorbed in his work. "Yeah, well, I've seen it before."

"So have I. You were worried about him. Why?"

Shannon considered the question, feeling for some reason that Augur deserved a proper answer. When she had first been assigned to repair the major's shuttle and had seen his registration file, she had assumed it was faked. She wouldn't have thought that the Liberation could get their hands on a shuttle, but with Doors' money and power behind them, who knew what they were capable of? And if they could get their hands on a shuttle, then a faked pilot registration was nothing. But when she had realized that it really _was_ his shuttle, and that he was stranded out of his own universe, well, her opinion changed. It was a sorry person who couldn't update their attitudes with the addition of new data, she thought, and she said as much to Augur.

"And now?" he asked carefully. "Now that you've seen that he's even more than he seems to be?"

Shannon glanced toward the door that led to the back part of the hangar, where the kitchen and offices were. Commander Boone had helped Major Kincaid up and he, Captain Marquette, and Dr. Park had shepherded the slightly unsteady major through the door, closing it behind them. Dr. Park had been muttering to herself about medical exams and giving the major a chance to rest. When the shuttle carrying Boone and Marquette had first arrived, while she had been hiding back there with Augur and the doctor, Shannon had had a good chance to look around. She had noted the several doors, the heavy construction, the sound baffling. This wasn't just a hangar at someone's private airstrip. This had to be a Liberation base. Did that mean that Marquette and Boone were Liberation? If they were, that was huge. On the other hand, Da'an had sent them with the parts, so they could be exactly what they said they were. Dr. Park worked with the Taelons; she was one of their researchers and CVI specialists at ComTech. 

But that wasn't the question, she thought, mentally shaking herself. The question was what did she think about the major now that she knew he was...different. It was actually a relief to be able to ask questions.

"Is he part Taelon? What were those lights?"

"They're called shaqarava," Augur said. "And part Taelon? No. But I think that's a story he'll need to tell you about himself -- if he has time, and if he chooses. The question before us is whether you will continue to help him?"

Shannon glared at Augur as she realized what he was asking. Now that she knew the major wasn't entirely human, would she abandon him? Would she refuse to finish the repairs?

"I _said_ I'd help, and I'll help," she said sharply.

Augur relaxed and shot her a saucy smile. "Good. Just checking."

Shannon rolled her eyes at him. "You are not a nice man."

"No," Augur replied with a grin. "No, I am not." He returned to his computer, his sharp eyes moving rapidly back and forth as he read the information his hands summoned.

She looked back down at the parts her own hands had continued to unpack while she was considering Augur's questions -- and her own -- and took in the extent of the damage with some dismay.

"Augur," she said slowly, "how important is it that we get this distortion field working?"

"Depends," he replied, looking up from his computer. Behind his glasses, his eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Because there's a lot of damage here. Some of these parts are completely ruined." She gestured at the damaged parts as he came around the table to study them himself.

"As I understand it, in order for the major to get back to his own universe," Augur said, picking up a part and holding it up to the light to examine, "he has to replicate his exact course in reverse. As he was leaving the Mothership at the time of his accident, he will need to be flying back _toward_ the Mothership when he goes interdimensional. You tell me what would happen if the Mothership detected a stolen shuttle being flown back toward them, scanned it, and found the major flying it?"

"They'd either haul it aboard or destroy it."

"So how important do you think the distortion field is, hm?"

Shannon sighed. "But, Augur, I don't think I can get it working...not with these parts, anyway." She looked speculatively at the shuttle. "On the other hand," she said thoughtfully, "I might be able to jury-rig something the same way the device that brought him here was."

Augur slapped her shoulder. "Now you're thinking!"

Shannon sighed again, and climbed into the shuttle to get to work.

~*~*~

"Well, doc, am I going to live?" Liam asked, his tone laden with humor, as Dr. Park finished her examination. He was feeling much better -- his ominpresent headache had even eased, which was a miracle in itself -- though he was still a little worried that without the conscious control of his mind, his own body had tried to destroy him. No. Not a _little_ worried. He was _extremely_ worried. But he hoped he was hiding his fear from Dr. Park.

She glanced at him sharply; he had a feeling she could see straight through him, just like his own Melissa, but she said only, "Your vitals seem to have returned to normal, Major." She paused and frowned. "I would really prefer it, though, if you were not alone between now and the time you can finally leave. Just in case."

"Do you really think that's necessary?" 

She nodded firmly. "I do. For one thing, if the Taelons trace you again, you may need help. For another, given what just happened, don't you think it would be wiser to have someone keeping an eye on you?"

Liam sighed and slumped a little, deflated. He turned his hands over, examining the reddish marks of his shaqarava, and shuddered as he thought again about what might have happened if Boone and Lili hadn't kept his hands pinned. He sighed again and said softly, "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

"Actually, the best thing would be for you to go back to the church where you'd be safe from Taelon scans altogether." Dr. Park looked up from packing her equipment back into her bag. "But since I know that's not going to happen -- it's too far away from the shuttle, for one thing--"

"--And too close to Liam, for another," Liam interrupted her. "Besides, Jonathan doesn't like me."

"Jonathan would come around." Her hands resting on her closed bag, she sighed. "But you're right. It's far too close to Liam, and we can't risk the two of you being in the same place together."

"Maybe Augur can rig something here that would block scans on a temporary basis," Liam suggested.

"Possibly," Dr. Park agreed with a small smile. "It's not my area of expertise. In the meantime, Major, please take it easy. Rest. With any luck, you'll be making a big trip in just a few hours."

Liam returned her smile. "Thank you, Dr. Park. I appreciate everything you've done for me."

She gave his arm a maternal pat. "Just trying to make sure that my counterpart will have no complaints when you get home." She gathered up her bag, turned, and opened the door of the office where she had conducted her examination. Past her, Liam could see Lili and Boone talking quietly at the kitchen table. As Liam rose from his chair, he heard a global beep; a moment later, Boone answered.

"Yes, Da'an?"

Dr. Park and Liam both stopped where they were, crowded together near the office doorway. Lili shot them a sharp glance, but Boone didn't look up from his global. He was holding it in such a manner that only someone directly over his shoulder would be caught by the visual pickup; even though his back was to the office doorway, Da'an would not have seen either of them. Liam found he was holding his breath and let it out slowly; he was surprised to feel Dr. Park doing the same. 

"Commander, have you carried out your commission?" Liam heard Da'an ask.

"Yes, Da'an," Boone replied without elaboration.

"I would appreciate it then, Commander, if you and Captain Marquette would remain to assist in the matter at hand. Captain Marquette, in particular, may have some valuable insight to offer."

Liam recognized that tone. That was Da'an warning Boone that he and Lili needed to stay away from the embassy without actually saying the words. That indicated to Liam that the hunt for him had entered a new phase. _So to speak,_ he thought wryly. It was possible that the energy surge from his last seizure had been registered aboard the Mothership...though he could _hope_ Da'an was just being cautious.

"Also, Commander," Da'an said, "as a matter for later thought, a shuttle technician, a Volunteer Shannon Kelly, has disappeared from the Mothership. She was last seen working in or around a damaged shuttle that had been retrieved from the embassy. That shuttle is also missing. It has been requested that any sightings of either should be reported as soon as possible. There is some concern that the Volunteer could be a Liberation agent."

"Has anyone reported any sightings?" Boone asked carefully.

"No, Commander. Nor has the Mothership been able to trace either Volunteer or shuttle."

"Perhaps she was testing her repairs and had an accident?"

Liam imagined the slight tilt to Da'an's head as he replied, "That is a possibility that I do not believe has been considered, Commander Boone. I will forward your suggestion to the Mothership. How long do you imagine it will be until the task I have set for you is completed?"

"That's difficult to say, Da'an," Boone replied. "I am hoping that it will be soon, but I cannot, at this point, make any guarantees."

"Understood," Da'an said. "Thank you, Commander."

Boone nodded, and closed his global. "So tell us about Volunteer Kelly, Major Kincaid," he said, without looking over his shoulder. 

Liam gestured for Dr. Park to precede him through the office doorway and joined Boone and Lili at the table. Dr. Park busied herself at the kitchen counter for a moment, then returned carrying two cups of cocoa. She placed one in front of Liam. He raised his eyebrows at her in surprise.

"Aside from the psychological comfort of a good cup of hot chocolate," she said, "you need the calories. Drink it. Doctor's orders." Her eyes twinkled.

"Hey, what about us?" Boone asked with a plaintive note in his voice.

Dr. Park shrugged, sliding into a chair. "The major is my patient, Commander. This is medicinal."

"In other words, Boone," Lili said with a grin, "if you want hot chocolate, go make your own."

"Yeah," Boone replied with a smile of his own, "I was getting that."

Lili got up from the table. "Don't worry, Boone, I've got it covered." She quickly made two cups of hot chocolate and brought them back to the table.

"It sounds, from that call, as though Da'an has basically given the two of you permission to stay here until the shuttle is ready to go," Dr. Park said.

Boone nodded. "Yeah, sounds like."

"Good," the doctor said, taking a sip of her own hot chocolate. Liam found himself mirroring her and she smiled at him in approval, her eyes crinkling over the top of her mug. 

"I don't want the major left alone from now on," Dr. Park continued. "Since you're going to be here, the two of you can help with monitoring him."

"Babysitting, you mean," Lili said, with a wink at Liam to take the sting out of it. He saluted her with his mug.

"If you like," Dr. Park said equably. 

"And did the major agree to this?" Lili looked at Liam, an eyebrow raised inquisitively.

Liam shrugged. "The major isn't stupid."

"I'm sure between the five of us, we can keep the major out of trouble," Boone said.

"Five?" Lili asked. "Oh, you mean Kelly."

"I do," Boone replied. "What do you think, Kincaid? Can she be trusted?"

Liam frowned. It was a little late for that; she'd seen all of them now. He sipped from his mug as he marshalled his thoughts. The chocolate was the instant kind with little marshmallows in it, thick and almost too sweet, but Dr. Park was right; it was comforting. Right now, Liam could do with some comfort. He considered Shannon's actions. She was certainly a competent pilot. Had she chosen to do so, she could have delivered him right back to the Taelons when he phased after leaving the Mothership. Her reaction to seeing his shaqarava ablaze had been calm, despite her obvious distress at the phasing episode. She seemed steady, smart, and even brave. She would probably be a good fit with the Liberation.

"I would like to talk to her before anything was said about any of you being Liberation," he said at last. "And certainly before she finds out about Sandoval and Siobhan -- or Liam. But, yes. I _do_ think she can be trusted."

"It might be handy to have another trained pilot around," Lili offered. "And I might be able to give her a few pointers."

"Don't you think you should talk to Jonathan first?" Dr. Park asked in a careful tone.

Boone shook his head. "No, I don't think so, Melissa. Jonathan used to be able to manage alone as the head of the Liberation, but the organization is getting too big. People are just going to start joining up, and it's a good thing. We don't need to have every single member vetted by him. We _can't_. Not any more. Not since he made his broadcast all those months ago, anyway."

"And if she turns out to be a spy...." Lili shrugged. "Then we deal with it. For what it's worth, I think Kincaid's correct."

Liam blinked, a bit surprised that she agreed with him. It was odd hearing Lili call him by his surname. His Lili either called him by his first name or addressed him as "Major Kincaid" especially in front of Sandoval or Zo'or, or any Taelon other than Da'an -- who knew, of course, that Lili was Resistance, thanks to Liam. His intention in revealing the Resistance headquarters to Da'an had been good; the Resistance _needed_ Da'an, as he had argued to Jonathan only a few days before that. But he'd been only a couple of weeks old at the time, and he wondered now, from the advanced age of a few months, if he hadn't been a bit premature in his actions. Da'an had accepted the alliance with the Resistance, but Liam was relatively certain that Jonathan hadn't -- not really. To Jonathan, Da'an was not an ally, but just another weapon in the fight against the Taelons. Liam could only hope it didn't come back to bite him in the ass, as the saying went.

"I'll talk to her when she's done with the shuttle," he said. "If she isn't interested, then you two can take her back to Da'an. Even if she is interested, you can take her back to Da'an, because it might be useful to have someone aboard the Mothership."

"I'm sure there are already people aboard the Mothership," Boone said darkly. "But none of us know who they are. Jonathan still occasionally has trouble sharing."

Lili finished her hot chocolate, went to the sink, and rinsed her mug. "I'm going to go see if I can help with the shuttle."

"Commander, I'd like a word with you," Dr. Park said. "Major, I'd appreciate it if you'd stay here. One of us will be back to keep you company shortly."

Liam nodded. "Okay. I'll be here." He watched as Commander Boone followed Dr. Park into one of the offices and closed the door. The commander, he thought, was going to get a scolding for daring to offer Liberation membership to Shannon without consulting the Almighty Doors. He raised his mug in salute to the brave man about to perish, and finished off the hot chocolate. Leaving his mug on the table, he rose and went to the office where Dr. Park had examined him. He had intended to leave certain global messages behind when he left, but he was once again without a global, so letters would have to do. As expected, he found a pad of lined paper and a stack of envelopes in the desk. He snagged a pen from a cup on top, and went back to the kitchen. 

At the table, he stared thoughtfully at the paper for a moment, then began to write. He was so absorbed in his task that he hardly noticed when Dr. Park returned to the kitchen. She sat down near him and opened her global, apparently reading something, rather than making a call. The kitchen was filled with a companionable silence marred only by the faint sound of the pen moving across the paper. Liam had a small stack of sealed and addressed envelopes sitting to one side of the table when Lili returned.

"The shuttle's ready," she announced. "Come on out and I'll show you the controls for the distortion field."

Liam looked up in surprise; he hadn't realized so much time had passed. "Okay...let me just finish this."

"What're you doing?" Lili asked, raising a brow.

"Just thank you notes," Liam said absently, his attention returning to the last one, to Da'an. "I'll be done in a minute."

"Oh." Lili looked surprised and exchanged a glance with Dr. Park, but Liam was already writing. "All right, then." Shaking her head, she returned to the main part of the hangar.

Liam wrote for a few more minutes, then looked critically over the letter. Despite what he'd said to Lili, they weren't entirely thank you notes. While he certainly thanked the people to whom he had written them, he also included a few words of warning or advice based on his own experiences, depending on to whom the letter was addressed. While he and Siobhan had discussed the possibility of foreknowledge going awry yesterday morning before their arrest, he felt that some things -- Da'an's separation from and reconnection to the Commonality, for instance -- were too important not to impart. Besides, he didn't expect to see Sandoval or Siobhan again, and he certainly wouldn't see his young counterpart again, and there were things he wanted to say to them. Theirs had been the first letters written.

"Dr. Park, can I ask you a favor?"

"Of course, Major."

He indicated the stack of letters. "Would you see that these get delivered for me?"

She looked a bit surprised at first, but agreed with a warm smile. Liam pushed the letters toward her, and she accepted them, getting up and tucking them into her bag which still sat on the counter. "Do you have any particular time frame in mind?"

He shook his head. "No. Just when you get a chance. There is one for Da'an there, so you might have to have one of the others deliver it. There's...nothing in it that Jonathan would need to be concerned about," he added. 

Dr. Park nodded at his acknowledgement of her duty to the Liberation. "Thank you for letting me know that, Major."

"Thank you for looking out for me," Liam said in return. "I appreciate it."

"Can't let your Melissa down," she said with a smile. 

Liam laughed. He had one more thing to do, then it would be time.

~*~*~

Shannon wiped her hands on the rag that Augur passed her. Finished. The shuttle was ready; Major Kincaid could leave at any time -- hopefully before he had another one of those horrific seizures. She did not think she would ever forget the sight of Commander Boone and Captain Marquette wrestling to keep the major, his face a rictus of pain, from touching his head with his glowing hands. She felt eyes on her and glanced over her shoulder. Boone was watching her with a completely impassive expression. She had realized as soon as Boone yelled for Dr. Park during the major's seizure that if he knew that the doctor was there, he was almost certainly Liberation. And if he was free to demonstrate his affiliation in front of Marquette, then so was she.

Shannon was...astounded, to say the least. To learn that two such high-ranking members of Da'an's staff were actually Liberation was...well, she wasn't certain she knew what to do with the knowledge. It was one thing for Major Kincaid, who was from another dimension, after all, to be Resistance, but Commander Boone was Da'an's _protector,_ for crying out loud! 

On the other hand, so was Major Kincaid -- just not the same Da'an.

She was, she understood, in a very delicate position here. She had no intention of passing her new knowledge on to anyone, but they had no way of knowing that. She thought that she had demonstrated her good intentions by bringing the unconscious major here and then repairing his shuttle, but she supposed she could understand if they required even more assurance.

Did she want to join the Liberation if they allowed it? She considered what she had learned of the Taelons while working aboard the Mothership. She wasn't certain that they were really the evil creatures that the Liberation painted them as. And yet...there was all that she had overheard from those Taelons like Zo'or, who didn't care what humans heard and thought because they considered them a lower form of life. While Quo'on remained leader of the Synod, the Taelons would cooperate -- mostly -- with humanity. But should anything happen to Quo'on....

"Penny for your thoughts."

Shannon turned around to find the major behind her. Everyone else had disappeared. She mentally kicked herself. So much for her Volunteer training; she should have noticed everyone leaving, at least, even if she hadn't noticed the soft-footed major coming into the hangar from the kitchen area.

She shrugged. "I don't know if they're worth that much."

He cocked his head and studied her, his green eyes intense. She wondered, briefly, half-guiltily, if, being not completely human, he could read her mind.

"Are you concerned about what's going to happen to you?"

The question did nothing to dispel the notion that he might be able to read her mind, and she said as much.

His eyes crinkled in a faint, but real, smile. "I can't," he assured her. "Not unless we Share, like the Taelons do." He held up his hand, palm out; she could see a red blotch like a birthmark in the middle of his palm -- the shaqarava. He folded his fingers over his palm and lowered his hand. 

"I suppose it was kind of obvious what I was thinking about," Shannon admitted.

He nodded. "Kind of." He paused. "And I guess you have the answer to the question you asked earlier."

Which she had also been thinking. 

"I guess so," she acknowledged. "It's just...I'm not certain I want to join the Liberation. I'm not cut out to be a spy; I'm not the James Bond type."

Liam snorted. "Mostly it's not like that. Mostly, it's just doing your job like you've always done it, but maybe saying a careful word here or there to get people thinking. Or maybe over-hearing something that, if people knew about it, would save other people -- and then letting someone know."

Shannon's mouth quirked in a half-smile. "Or maybe flying an unconscious stranger to a hangar in the middle of nowhere and then repairing his shuttle?"

Liam laughed outright at that. "Or maybe that. The point is it's not all cloak-and-dagger midnight meetings with Jonathan Doors and knifing Taelons in the corridors of the Mothership. My only request would be that if you really don't want to join, you promise me that you won't tell anyone -- _anyone_ \-- what you have seen here today."

"I can make a promise, certainly," Shannon said, "but you have no way of knowing if I would keep it. There are always stories, you know, about things that happen on the Mothership. What if I _couldn't_ keep it?"

Liam met her eyes. "Then it's not your fault. I have an idea if you want to hear it."

Shannon nodded. "Please."

"How about this: you were working in the shuttle when someone you had never seen before came in, hit you with some sort of energy weapon, and when you woke up, you were at the Embassy in Washington. You have no idea what happened. When they show you a photo of me -- if they do -- you can say, 'Yes, that was the guy.' If this works, they'll never find me. Even if this doesn't work, they still won't find me, and it won't matter, anyway."

Shannon frowned, uneasy. "What do you mean?"

"Shannon. You've seen me phase twice." His gaze was steady, direct, unblinking, but his voice was gentle. "You _know_ what it means."

She bit her lip. She did know what it meant. "Maybe we can come up with something to help. Maybe--"

"It's okay," he said softly. "I don't belong here. And being unmade by the universe isn't the worst thing that could happen to me. The Taelons getting their hands on me would be far worse, so don't worry about it, okay? Everything will be all right."

"Why should the Taelons hurt you? If you're part Taelon--" But Augur had said that he wasn't part Taelon. Then she remembered what her friend Alex had told her, about sweeping the planet for Kimera energy. Her hand flew to her mouth in surprise. She should have remembered sooner. She looked up and found the major patiently waiting for her to work it out. "You're not part Taelon," she breathed. "You're part Kimera."

He nodded. "Yes."

"But how?"

"In my dimension, when Ha'gel escaped, he fathered a child before he was killed."

Wait, what? Shannon frowned at the man standing before her and counted the months since the search for Ha'gel. They didn't add up. "But that was only...."

"A few months ago, yes," he said. "I'm only a few months old. Part alien, remember? I was born and became an adult all on the same day."

"Well, that sucks," Shannon said, without thinking.

The major's laughter was unexpected. "Yeah, it did, kind of," he said. "People who talk about 'growing pains' have no idea how much it hurts to have it happen all at once."

Things were ticking over in Shannon's mind, now; things she knew, things she had heard. She narrowed her eyes as she stared at the major. "You were arrested yesterday morning with Lieutenant Beckett," she said slowly. "One of my friends told me."

"Yes."

"She's been missing for months. Everyone thought Ha'gel killed her. But he didn't, did he. She's your mother. In your dimension."

"Yes."

"But not here?"

Something passed across the major's face, something that Shannon couldn't define. "I don't exist in this dimension," he said easily.

He met her eyes unflinchingly and his voice never wavered, but Shannon was certain he was not telling her the truth. This was the face of the Resistance fighter Liam Kincaid, not Companion Protector Liam Kincaid. Still, there was a reason for it, and truthfully, it was none of her business. She had made her decision aboard the shuttle.

She had, she suddenly realized. She had made her decision. Now how to go about implementing it?

"So," she said slowly, "if I were to agree to join the Liberation, how would that happen?"

The major accepted her change of subject without blinking. "Probably pretty much in the same way as if you didn't, except that at some point, someone would let you know who your contact would be if you had information you needed to pass on."

"I don't suppose there's any chance I could get flying lessons from Captain Marquette?" Her tone was wistful.

The major grinned. "She might agree. You'd have to ask her."

Shannon matched his grin. "For that? I'd definitely join."

"Well," the major said, "no time like the present." He made a gesture behind his back and the door to the back part of the hangar opened. Apparently someone had been observing their conversation. Boone stepped through and walked up to them.

"Commander Boone," the major said, "please allow me to introduce your newest recruit, Volunteer Private Shannon Kelly. Shannon, Commander William Boone."

Shannon stuck out her hand. She was only a little surprised when Commander Boone shook it. "Nice to meet you, Commander," she said.

"Welcome aboard," he replied. "We'll talk about how to get you back to the Mothership in a little while."

She nodded and he turned to the major. "Kincaid, I know that you need to leave as soon as possible, but can you wait a little while longer?"

The major looked surprised, then his eyes went distant -- checking to see if he could tell if a phasing seizure was coming, Shannon thought. He blinked and focused again on Boone. "I think so. Why?"

"Because someone is coming who wants to say goodbye," Boone replied.


	16. Chapter 16

Liam settled into the pilot's seat of his shuttle, waving up the controls to run the pre-flight checks. Shannon stood behind him, watching. Lili had been going to show him how to use the distortion field, but she had had to take her shuttle to run an errand -- fetching whoever it was that wanted to say goodbye to him, Liam thought.

He had his suspicions about who it was, but he kept them to himself. Boone had a look on his face that indicated that he wanted it to be a surprise, and as long as he didn't phase again, Liam was content to go along with it, though he did wonder if the surprise was for him, or for Shannon. If the people he was waiting for were who he assumed them to be, then it would be far more of a surprise for her than for him.

"Okay," Shannon said, once the control panel winked into place. "You can see the new control here," she leaned over his shoulder and pointed to a spot near the navigational controls. "Using the field is simple; you just press to activate. The field obscures the shuttle; no one will be able to see it either visually or with scanners, not even the Mothership."

"This is going to make certain things so much simpler," Liam remarked, glancing over his shoulder at Shannon, who grimaced. "What?"

"Unfortunately not," she said. "Not unless your people can reverse engineer it. The parts were damaged when you phased and dropped them. I had to jury-rig it; it will only work once."

Liam sighed. "Of course." He shrugged philosophically. "Ah, well. I should be used to that sort of thing by now."

"Sorry," Shannon said uncomfortably.

"It's not your fault, Shannon." Liam turned back to the controls and finished the pre-flight sequence. Everything looked good, so he pulled up the navigational logs and studied them. When he had left Maiya's dimension, things had been a bit chaotic. Augur had laid in the course for him; he had simply engaged the interdimensional drive as soon as the shuttle was out of that Mothership's shuttle bay. He knew how it had been done, though, so with sure hands, he laid in his return course, sparing a moment to wonder how the Resistance was doing on that world, and whether or not Da'an had been able to make a difference. He hoped so.

He knew that Shannon was watching with interest; he glanced back at her when he was finished to find her frowning thoughtfully.

"What is it?"

"I _think_ \-- and I'm not positive -- but I think the Mothership will be passing through those coordinates in the next hour or so."

"That could be bad," Liam said.

"You certainly wouldn't be able to fly through the same coordinates they're occupying," Shannon agreed.

Liam pulled up the shuttle's scanners, hoping that a quick scan wouldn't alert the Mothership to the shuttle's -- and therefore his -- whereabouts. As far as he knew, the search for the Kimera-spawn continued, with the added thrill of the search for a stolen shuttle and missing technician. The scan showed that he did have a window of about an hour before the Mothership would be in exactly the wrong place for him to leave. After that, he would have to wait another hour to make sure it was out of his way. He didn't _think_ that the Mothership had to be occupying the exact position it had been when he entered this dimension; on the trip to Maiya's dimension, he and Augur had been flying from Earth and their return flight had started with a hasty launch from the Mothership. So as long as the _course_ was right, he should be okay. 

He explained that to Shannon and she nodded. "That makes sense." Her head tilted. "Should you be telling me this? I might work out a way to make safe interdimensional flights."

Liam grinned. "Knock yourself out. Just remember the danger of phasing. You don't belong in whatever universe you end up in, so that universe will try to do away with you." He did wonder, though, if he went to a universe where he actually _didn't_ exist, if he would have the same issue with phasing, or if it only happened in the case of duplicates. He and Augur hadn't been in Maiya's dimension long enough to find out, though he was certain that he had not existed there. He had read all the existing human books theorizing on alternate dimensions and quantum theory when he got back from his first trip, and followed it up with a search of the Taelon archives, but there was not a lot of information there. When he got back from this trip, he should probably make an attempt to access his Kimera genetic memories; maybe the Kimera had known more. He thought longingly of the Kimera repository ship that still existed in this dimension, but there was no time for a visit there. Not for him, anyway. Maybe someday young Liam would get there.

Shannon's nose wrinkled. "Yeah, that would sort of put the kibosh on interdimensional tourism." She sighed. "And I so wanted to get rich."

Liam laughed. "Another fine plan shot down in flames."

He shut down the shuttle's controls and climbed out, offering Shannon a hand. She accepted it with a smile of thanks. She glanced at her watch. "It's almost dinner time," she said in surprise.

Liam reflexively looked at his own watch, equally surprised to see it nearly five o'clock. His stomach took the opportunity to remind him that he hadn't had a lot to eat today. He ambled toward the kitchen, Shannon behind him. Just as he was walking through the door, the crack of a shuttle exiting interdimensional space sounded, and he stopped halfway through the door, glancing upward. The others in the kitchen -- Boone, Dr. Park, and Augur -- were doing the same, he saw. Boone rose from his seat at the table, motioning for everyone else to stay put.

"That should be dinner," he said with an easy smile, "but just in case, you guys stay here and let me handle it." He gave Liam a narrow-eyed look. "Especially you."

Liam raised his hands in a peaceable gesture and backed away from the door. He knew that Boone was aware that should the need arise, he would not stay in the kitchen, but as long as he pretended he would, they were both satisfied. 

They had been waiting for a minute or so when Liam began to hear voices. None were raised in alarm, and, in fact, he recognized one lilting voice in particular, and smiled.

"What is it, Major?" Dr. Park asked.

"Siobhan," he replied.

Dr. Park raised a brow in surprise. "How can you tell? I don't hear anything."

Liam shrugged. "Kimera hearing."

Augur shook his head. "Aren't you full of surprises."

"Good ones, I hope," Liam said.

"That is yet to be determined," Augur replied with a sideways glance toward Shannon that let Liam know they were discussing his young counterpart, not himself. It had been tacitly agreed that unless one of his parents mentioned it, Shannon would not initially be told about young Liam. It was one thing for her to know that somewhere out there in the multiverse, Ha'gel had had a child. She didn't yet need to know that it was closer than she thought.

"Siobhan?" Shannon asked. "Siobhan, my cousin, Siobhan? Siobhan Beckett?" She rounded on Liam. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"The first thing you have to learn about being in the Liberation, Shannon," Dr. Park said, "is that you don't give away other people's secrets. No matter who you're talking to and how much you trust them."

Shannon turned her head to look at Dr. Park who had a solemn expression on her face. She opened her mouth to say something -- a protest, Liam thought -- but swallowed the words unspoken and nodded instead.

"Sorry, Major," she said.

"Liam," he replied. "My name is Liam."

The voices were near enough that everyone could hear them now. Liam could smell pizza. Hopefully this evening's dinner would not end like last night's had. It suddenly occurred to him that he would be sleeping in his own bed tonight. A wave of homesickness swept over him. Yes, there were definitely certain aspects of this dimension that he had enjoyed -- meeting Boone, interacting with Siobhan and Sandoval not just as colleagues, but as his parents, meeting his young counterpart. Enough of it had been enjoyable that without the phasing, staying or going would be a tough choice. It was probably best that the universe had made that choice for him. Besides, he found that he missed his own people, as he knew them. Lili and Augur who had witnessed his birth and rapid growth. His own motherly Melissa Park, with whom he felt so comfortable, despite what she had done to his mother at Jonathan's orders. Hell, he even missed Jonathan.

A little. 

He swung the door open and held it while Lili, Boone, Sandoval, and Siobhan all trooped in. Lili was carrying six-packs of cola in each hand, while Boone was carrying several stacked boxes of pizza. Sandoval and Siobhan were both carrying grocery bags.

The food was carried to the table and Boone and Lili began wrangling chairs. Shannon, Liam noticed, was hanging back by the door, as if trying to decide whether or not she should stick around. Siobhan noticed her.

"Well, now," she said, "if it isn't young Shannon Kelly. I am pleased to see you, cousin."

Shannon blushed. "You know who I am?"

Siobhan raised both eyebrows in surprise. "And why should I not? We're kin." She leaned forward as if imparting a secret. "And besides, your gran asked my gran to ask me to keep an eye on you when you joined the Volunteers." She winked, and Liam smiled behind his hand. Shannon would be all right, with Siobhan looking out for her. And perhaps in time, she would even get to meet her cousin Liam Rory Beckett-Sandoval.

It was with a certain sense of relief that he joined the others at the table.

Dinner passed in much the same manner as the night before. Conversation was light; jokes flew back and forth across the table, especially between Augur and Lili. Liam was pleased to see Shannon join in once or twice. The time when he could climb into his shuttle and leave ticked nearer and nearer. He seemed to feel the looming shadow of the Mothership as it orbited above the planet.

When dinner had been reduced to crumbs and greasy smears in otherwise empty pizza boxes, while the table was littered with crumpled napkins and empty soda cans, Sandoval reached down beside his chair and came up with one of the bags he and Siobhan had carried in. It was a plastic grocery bag, such as would be given in any store, but he handed it across the table to Liam with great ceremony.

Liam hastily wiped his fingers clean on a napkin and accepted the bag. "What's this?"

"It's a gift, Major," Sandoval said with a raised brow. "Surely you have had gifts before?"

Liam, unaccountably, felt his face grow hot. He had, but certainly not from his parents. But that wasn't something he wanted to say to either of them. "Of course," he temporized. "I just wasn't expecting...."

"Open it, Liam," Siobhan said.

He did, wondering if this was what it was like to have a birthday party -- half exciting, at the thought of a gift, half uncomfortable with everyone watching him. Maybe someday, he'd have a party. If he ever reached a birthday. He had said, not so terribly long ago to Augur, that birthdays were over-rated, but he wondered if that was true.

He opened the bag while the others watched. Inside, he found a small, flat, colorfully wrapped package. He tore the paper open to reveal a book, which he opened in wonder. It was the Kimera book from Da'an's quarters -- or a very good copy.

"How did you get this?" Liam asked, running reverent fingers over the cover.

"That's the weird thing," Sandoval said. "Da'an called me into his office and handed it to me. He told me to pass it on to Boone or Lili as they would know what to do with it."

"By which we assumed that he wanted us to pass it on to you," Boone said, "since we were the ones that he told about you." He smiled faintly and gestured toward himself, Sandoval, and Siobhan. "And before you ask, all three of us have looked through it, so it is firmly up here," he tapped his head, "but we also scanned a copy of it. Just in case."

"Please thank Da'an for me," Liam said. "You have no idea what this means to me." His only prior contact with anything Kimera had been a brief conversation with Ha'gel that he couldn't even be sure had been real, and a trip through the damaged and slightly mad Kimera respository ship with Lili and the Jaridian whose name he never learned.

"Oh," Siobhan said, "I think we do, Liam. Knowledge of one's ancestors is important. We're happy to pass on even that small amount." 

"There's something more in the bag, Major," Sandoval said.

Liam reached into the bag and pulled another, identically wrapped parcel from the bag, which then collapsed in on itself, obviously empty. He opened this one to find it contained a red velvet pouch closed with a drawstring. Clicking noises came from the pouch when he lifted it out. Beneath the pouch was a beautifully-embroidered cloth. He opened the pouch, knowing what he would find within. He tumbled a few of the runes into his hand. They were carven bone disks, yellowed with age, smoothed by time and use, the carved rune figures little more than scratches.

"Those were my gran's," Siobhan said softly. "It seemed important that you have something of hers, even if, strictly speaking, she wasn't _your_ great-grandmother. She used the cloth whenever she did a full, proper reading."

Liam's eyes prickled and he blinked back the tears. "Thank you," he said around the sudden lump in his throat. "Thank you so much."

Siobhan smiled. "You're welcome, Liam. And now...." She reached down and picked up the bag she had been carrying. "This is for later. For when you get home." 

Liam accepted the bag. It contained another wrapped box, he found when he peeked inside, this one larger than the other two. It was reasonably light, and he couldn't guess what it might contain.

"Thank you," he said again. 

"We also brought your weapon, which you left at the church," Lili said, "and your global. They're in the shuttle."

Liam looked around the table at the familiar faces. "Thank you all so much. You have done so much for me in the last couple of days, and I can never express how much I appreciate it, especially when you didn't have to. You could have thrown me to the Taelons' mercy or worse. I just...thank you."

Suddenly a global beeped. "Mine," Augur said. He pulled it out and looked at it, then looked up at Liam. "I had it set to tell me when the Mothership was out of your way. It just passed beyond the event horizon we calculated for it. You're free to lift off any time you're ready." He grinned.

Liam felt a sudden wild surge of excitement. He could go home! And yet...he would never see any of these people again. Well, obviously he would see Lili and Augur and Sandoval again, but they wouldn't be the same people. It was the oddest sensation and he would never know exactly how to describe it.

"Well, now," Siobhan said. "Best not to prolong it. You mustn't risk staying too long."

Liam cleared his throat. He knew that her concern wasn't entirely for her son, so was not offended by what might seem like her pushing him out the door. "No. No, you're right, of course."

He rose from his chair, and there was a clatter of chairs as everyone else rose with him. A flurry of hugs from Lili and Dr. Park and Shannon followed. He shook hands with Boone and Augur, then he was through the kitchen door and headed for the shuttle. As he reached it, he realized that Siobhan and Sandoval had followed him. He put the bags with the gifts into the shuttle and turned back to his parents. The others were hanging back, except for Augur, who was opening the hangar doors.

"That last package is from Liam, Major," Sandoval said. "He insisted that you had to have something to remember him especially."

"But you'll find a little something in there from both of us, as well," Siobhan added. "Something we didn't wish to speak of, necessarily, in front of Shannon. We will not be telling her about Liam right away."

"I think you can trust her," Liam offered. "For what that's worth."

"It's not that, Major," Sandoval said. "We feel that she likely _is_ trustworthy. But you know how precious our son is to us. We have to be absolutely positive."

Liam smiled sadly. If only his own father felt that way. "I understand," he said softly.

"Give us a hug," Siobhan said, holding her arms wide.

Liam gladly stepped into her embrace. "I will miss you," he whispered in her ear. 

"And I you," she responded. "As I said last night, may your road deliver you safely to your door at journey's end." She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek then stepped back.

To Liam's surprise, Sandoval took her place. He hugged Liam hard, slapping his back a couple of times. "Good luck to you, Liam," he said. "And...if you ever get the chance to tell your father who you are, think about doing so. If he's anything like me, he will be glad of it."

Liam nodded. "I hope to be able to someday."

And then, surprising him even more than he thought possible, both Sandoval and Siobhan held their hands toward him, palms out. Liam gaped for just a moment, before raising his own hands and meeting theirs. The Sharing was far less intense than it might have been with Da'an, but Liam read their affection for him, their deep love and fierce protectiveness of their son. From Siobhan, he also got a rapid-fire set of images -- everything Ha'gel had ever told her about his purpose in Joining with her. It was too much to take in all at once; Liam tucked it away into the deep recesses of his mind to examine later.

They broke apart a moment later, and Liam was surprised to find that his were not the only tear-filled eyes. He grabbed them both into one last, brief, fierce hug.

There was nothing more to say. Siobhan and Sandoval stepped back. He climbed up into the shuttle and secured himself in the pilot's seat. Before sealing the virtual glass windscreen, he looked out one last time at all his new old friends, all of whom were watching him with varying smiles, Siobhan and Sandoval now standing among them. He waved, then with deliberate gestures activated the virtual glass windscreen and the controls.

He took a deep breath, finalized the course he had set earlier, and activated the shuttle's conventional drive. He lifted off as gently as Lili had taught him, swooped through the hangar doors, and flew into the evening sky. The sun was setting to the west, the sky painted in shades of gold and mauve. To the east, the first stars were gleaming palely. He activated the distortion field so that the Mothership would not be able to track him, and flew toward Washington, D. C. It took only minutes to reach the outskirts of the city, and from there he re-oriented himself toward space -- and home. The shuttle arrowed up into the sky, following the path on which he had entered this dimension. As soon as he was certain he was mirroring his path exactly, he started to make the gesture that would activate the interdimensional drive.

There was a sudden surge of awareness over the link he shared with young Liam.

_Goodbye, Major Liam,_ he heard. _Good luck._

_Thanks, kiddo,_ he replied. _Take care of your parents for me._

The last thing he heard from the child was a wordless pulse of assent as he took the shuttle into interdimensional and the familiar white vortex took the place of the view out the windscreen. He shook his head. The young scamp had done the one thing they hadn't considered -- his mental touch would have made their link flare like a beacon to the Commonality, but it would have cut off abruptly as Liam took the shuttle into ID space. To the Taelons, it would seem as though the Kimera-spawn had been destroyed. Clever, clever child.

Turbulence shook the shuttle then, but he compensated for it, and...three...two...one.... He brought the shuttle out of interdimensional. It shuddered and bounced into normal space, but he quickly brought it under control again, relieved and encouraged that this reentry from interdimensional space was nothing like the pinwheeling exit of two nights ago. It was late evening; the familiar cityscape below was lit with the mingled light of orange and white streetlights, traffic lights and strings of white headlights going one way and red tail lights going the other. Ahead of him, the white spire of the Washington Monument glowed in its own floodlights, while slightly to the right the Taelon embassy glimmered in all its majesty. 

He banked the shuttle toward the embassy's pad, keying the control sequence that would lower the safety shield. Another shuttle was parked there; he supposed it was too much to hope that it might be Lili's. Though if Lili's shuttle was there, that meant Sandoval was likely there as well. He wasn't sure he was up to facing his father's customary animosity after the concern and care he had been offered by the other dimension's Sandoval. He thought then about kind, soft-spoken Jason, Maiya's husband, and the Sandoval he had just left, Liam Rory's father. He wondered in how many other dimensions Sandoval was able to show his true personality and feelings, unfettered by a motivational imperative.

He supposed there had to be an equal number of dimensions where Ronald Sandoval was a heartless bastard with or without the imperative controlling his actions.

He shook himself and gently landed in the space next to the other shuttle. Whether Lili was here or not, with Sandoval or without him, he had to assure himself that Da'an was all right. He could only assume that the sabotage to his shuttle had been part of a plot aimed at Da'an. As he dismissed the controls and the virtual glass, he became aware of an acrid odor from the rear of the compartment; glancing back, he could see smoke leaking from behind the drive hatch. He crawled into the back and carefully opened the hatch just to make sure that there was no imminent danger of fire; the smoke thickened a bit and he coughed as he fanned it away, but everything looked safe enough to leave. The distortion field had burned out, just as Shannon had warned; given the blackened remains, he doubted that the Resistance would be able to make anything of it. Well, he thought philosophically, as he climbed out of the shuttle and strode toward Da'an's office, he and Lili would just have to poke around and see if there was something similiar here in this dimension.

As he walked down the ramp from the upper levels of the embassy toward Da'an's office, he became aware of voices and slowed, his hand coming to rest on his weapon. It sounded like Da'an and Sandoval, but despite his Kimera hearing, he couldn't quite make out their words. He eased closer to the room, listening intently. As he rounded the last bend, he got a clear view of Lili waiting by the office's other exit, standing at parade rest, her eyes intent on Sandoval and Da'an. Despite her military bearing, she looked tired and worried and as if she was trying to hide both. Liam stopped just short of being visible to the rest of the office.

"Lili," he whispered, hoping he was close enough that she could hear him.

She did. She glanced at him and her eyes widened. "Liam!" she mouthed, "where have you been?" 

"Tell you later," he mouthed back. "What's going on?"

She rolled her eyes, then her fingers shaped a Resistance all-clear signal.

Liam expelled a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding, his shoulders falling with the force of his relief. Da'an was safe. He had been relatively certain of it as soon as he saw Lili; she would have done her best to prevent Da'an from being harmed, though if Sandoval was hell-bent on it, she would have had to choose between protecting her position and sacrificing Da'an. He suspected he knew what she would do; Lili's devotion to the Resistance would demand that she keep her position with Sandoval. He sighed silently. This wasn't the time to wax philosophical about the Resistance, and Lili was watching him, in any case, waiting to take her cue from him. He dropped his hand from his weapon and sauntered the rest of the way down the ramp.

"Major Kincaid!" Lili exclaimed loudly, breaking into the discussion between Sandoval and Da'an. 

Da'an stood up from his chair, his features betraying both surprise and relief. "Liam!"

Sandoval wheeled. Liam thought he detected irritation in his father's gaze. "Major Kincaid. Where have you been?"

Liam briefly debated whether to tell the whole story, but decided that he didn't want Sandoval to know any more about alternate dimensions than he already did, so only said, "Someone sabotaged my shuttle, Sandoval. It took me a while to get it repaired so I could get home."

He was watching Sandoval closely as he said it, and caught the flicker of anger that crossed his features. But was it anger that someone had sabotaged the shuttle, or anger that the sabotage hadn't killed him? Liam didn't know, and could hardly ask. Maybe he had been wrong all along. Maybe the sabotage hadn't been aimed at Da'an. Maybe it had been aimed at him after all. He kept his face impassive, drawing on the memories he had inherited from Sandoval to do so.

Da'an stepped down from his dais and walked up to Liam, raising a hand toward his protector's face, though he stopped short of touching him. "Are you well, Liam?" he asked softly. "You have been sorely missed."

Liam nodded, allowing some of his fatigue to bleed into his face and voice. "I'm really tired, Da'an, and I should probably see Dr. Park in the next day or two, but I'm mostly all right."

"Dr. Park?" Da'an asked. "Were you injured in your absence?"

"I--" Liam hesitated. He didn't want to talk about this with either Lili or Sandoval present. Lili, he would tell later. Sandoval, he would never tell.

Da'an seemed to understand. He turned to Sandoval. "Thank you, Agent Sandoval, for your tireless efforts to locate Major Kincaid." He looked past Liam to Lili. "And you, as well, Captain Marquette."

Lili nodded. "You're welcome, Da'an." Liam was certain that her efforts had been far more tireless than Sandoval's.

"Now that the major is safely returned to us, you should both go take your well-deserved rest. You have been working for many hours with no break."

Sandoval gave Liam a sour look, but said only, "Thank you, Da'an." He started for the exit, then paused. "Major, I will want your report on my desk as soon as possible."

"I'm sure you will," Liam muttered.

"What was that, Major?"

"I said, 'of course, Agent Sandoval. As soon as possible.'"

Da'an smiled faintly in response to Liam's wry expression. Neither of them spoke again until both Sandoval and Lili had departed.

"Why did you not wish to tell your tale in front of Agent Sandoval, Major?"

Liam sighed, allowing Da'an to see the full extent of his exhaustion. "Because it's far simpler to show you, Da'an, and I didn't want Sandoval to see that." He raised his right hand, palm outward. His shaqarava glowed faintly.

Da'an matched Liam's gesture, his whole hand glowing blue as it met Liam's. Energy and thought passed between them through the conduit of their palms. Liam allowed Da'an to see what had happened to him over the past few days, from the moment he had left the Mothership to the moment he had landed back here at the embassy. He felt a pang of mingled sorrow and joy from Da'an at Boone's survival in the other dimension, and wry acknowledgement of his being Liberation. 

_If that is what happened in this dimension,_ Da'an thought, _it explains much._

_Just because it happened there does not mean it happened here,_ Liam responded. _After all, I grew up, and that Liam did not._

There was a wordless pulse of acknowledgement through their link. The rest of the memories passed between them, Da'an expressing shock and concern at Liam's phasing, and something like resigned disappointment at the other Zo'or's actions. As the Sharing ended, Liam staggered. Da'an caught his elbow; energy trickled up Liam's arm from the firm grip, and he felt himself steadying.

"You require rest, Liam," Da'an said. "Do you think you can make it to your home, or shall I have someone escort you?"

Liam shook his head. "Thanks, Da'an. I can make it."

"Are you certain, Major? I think it would be wiser to have someone take you."

Liam straightened. The energy Da'an had given him was fizzing in his system. He was awake enough to get himself home now. "It's all right, Da'an. I can get home, and then I will sleep for days, unless you have something pressing?"

"No, Liam. There is nothing on the schedule. Go home. Rest. I expect you to see Dr. Park before you return to duty; we must be certain you took no lasting injury from the dimensional phasing. I will see you back in three days."

He turned back toward his chair; Liam offered him a steadying hand as he stepped up onto the high dais. Once he was settled, he smiled at Liam. "It is good to have you back, Liam," he said softly.

"It's good to be back," Liam said. "I'll see you in a few days, Da'an."

Lili was leaning against his car, waiting for him.

"Hi, Lili," he said wearily.

"Are you all right?" she demanded, looking him over. "Where have you been?"

"It's a long story," he replied, "and I'm really tired."

"I know," she said. "That's why I'm here. Give me your keys."

"Da'an gave me some energy. I'm okay to get home."

"Give me your keys and get in the car, Liam. You're in no condition to drive, energy from Da'an or no."

Liam sighed and tossed Lili the keys. "Fine."

Lili got in and started the car while Liam walked around to the passenger door. He carefully placed the bags with his gifts from Siobhan and Sandoval and Liam Rory -- retrieved from his shuttle -- in the foot well as he got in.

Lili pulled the car out of the embassy parking lot. After a couple of blocks, she glanced over at him. "Now talk," she ordered. 

Liam sighed, and started speaking. By the time Lili parked outside the Flat Planet, which was still busy, Liam noted almost absently -- it wasn't actually that late, yet, just felt like it -- he had told her what had happened to him the past couple of days while he had been missing.

"I can't decide what's weirder," she said, handing him his keys, "the dimension where I'm evil, or the dimension where I'm me."

"And how many other dimensions are there?" he asked as he got out of the car with his bags. "And what sort of differences?"

Lili got out as well and steered him, not toward the side door to the building, but toward the café entrance.

"Where are we going?"

"Did you think I was spending the night here?" Lili asked. "Augur is giving me a ride home. He wants to make sure that you're all right. I promised your mother I would take care of you, and he promised me."

Liam smiled, touched. "Thanks, Lili. I missed you."

She squeezed his arm. "I missed you, too, Liam. Could you please not do this again for a while?"

"I'll do my best." And he certainly would try. But since it seemed to be more being done _to_ him than something he did himself, it was unlikely he was going to be able to keep such a promise.

Lili walked in ahead of him; he entered to a wall of noise. On the stage, a band played something loud and jazzy; dancing of varying degrees of ability occurred nearby. In another corner, a small crowd watched a game on the huge television -- more like a small movie screen. At the bar, Kwai Ling greeted them with a raised eyebrow and a sardonic, "It's about time you came back" to Liam. She jerked her head toward the back corner, where there was a table that was more or less private. "Augur's waiting."

"Good to see you, too," Liam said with a grin. Kwai Ling's answering smile was faint, but she patted his arm as he passed. The Flat Planet was her domain as much as it was Augur's, and Liam knew that she considered watching over him to be part of her duties. It was kind of nice, actually.

"Liam!" Augur exclaimed, jumping up as they approached his table and sweeping the taller man into an effusive hug. The lights from the dance floor played on his tight t-shirt, reflecting from the silvery oblong shapes in a way that dazzled Liam's eyes, giving him a slight headache. "I am so glad to see you! Where have you been?"

"Another extra-dimensional jaunt," Liam replied lightly. "I'll tell you later, okay? Or Lili can tell you. Right now I really need some sleep, Augur."

"You do look pretty wrung out," Augur said with his usual tact, holding him at arms' length and examining him critically. "And don't you know that you're supposed to take those trips with me, so I can make sure you get back?"

"Wait, I thought you said you never wanted to do that again," Liam said with a tired smile. "Did I get that wrong?"

"Well, maybe not," Augur allowed. "Good to see you, kid. Glad you're not dead after all. Now go get some sleep." He released Liam and lightly punched his arm.

Liam turned toward the door to the back of the building and his apartment. "Thanks, guys," he said, turning back briefly, meeting each of their eyes in turn. "It's good to be home."

"Go, Liam," Lili commanded, even as she slid into the seat across from Augur.

"Going," Liam replied, and went.

~*~*~

It was the evening before he was supposed to return to work, nearly a week after he had first crossed into what he had come to think of as Liam Rory's dimension -- to differentiate it from Maiya's, and who would have ever thought that he'd need to label other dimensions in order to tell them apart? -- when Liam remembered the gifts that Siobhan and Sandoval had given him, and the package that they had said he was to open only upon returning home.

In his defense, he had spent a great deal of the last three days sleeping. After leaving Lili and Augur in the Flat Planet, he had gone into his apartment, closed the door behind him, dropped the bags into the recliner under the window, his global and his weapon on the bar under the loft, stumbled up the tightly spiralled staircase and fallen face first onto his bed. He was asleep before he could even pull the blankets over himself. He had awakened around dawn just long enough to kick off his shoes and pants, pull off his t-shirt, and burrow back into the bed, pulling the blankets up over his head to shut out the grey light coming in the window.

He was awakened from a dreamless sleep around noon, groggy and disoriented. At first, he was afraid that he was still in the other dimension, that he had dreamed everything after borrowing the apartment from that dimension's Augur, but then his eyes fell on the Taelon puzzle on the windowsill. He was safe in his own dimension. A shrill beeping told him that his global had awakened him. He yawned, and made his slow way downstairs, the wrought iron of the steps cold and rough under his bare feet. Retrieving his global, he found a message from Dr. Park commanding him to call her as soon as he could, and if she wasn't available, he was to call Dr. Belman.

Doctors Park and Belman wanted to see him right away. Since this would be an official examination in the line of duty, he met them at the clinic instead of at St. Michael's. Both were exceedingly interested in what he could tell them of the other dimension. They ran every test they could think of on him to make sure he had taken no lasting damage from the phasing, but as with Maiya, they found nothing that rest would not cure. 

"And that's what we want you to do, Liam," Melissa said. "Rest. Da'an has already granted you leave for three days. We want you to take the entire three days and just rest."

"While you might have no _lasting_ damage," Julianne added when he attempted to protest, "the damage from the phasing was cumulative. Each episode added a little more to the stress your body was undergoing. Stress makes changes that only rest can undo."

"This is the perfect opportunity for me to do some of my other work," Liam said, hopping down from the exam table.

Melissa handed him his t-shirt. "No, Liam," she said, as he pulled it over his head.

Julianne simply glared at him, which was far more effective than scolding. "Go home, Liam. Do not answer your global."

"But what if Jonathan--"

"I will speak to Jonathan," Julianne responded. She pointed to the door. "Go, Liam."

Liam looked at Melissa, but she had the same implacable look on her face. He sighed and gave in. 

"And Liam," Julianne said as he reached for the door, "go back to bed. We'll send Lili or Augur over with dinner for you."

"I know it sounds ridiculous to you, Liam," Melissa added softly, "but what happened to you was serious. Plus you're still suffering from the effects of absorbing the energy blast from Lieutenant Beckett's skrill. You need to learn to take time for yourself; you can't do the Resistance or the Taelons any good if you make yourself ill."

"I'm going," Liam said. "I'm going."

He was surprised to find that he did spend the next two days resting. He slept a lot more than he would have expected. Lili and Augur brought him meals, sometimes staying to eat with him, sometimes not. Lili let him know that no progress had been made into the investigation of who had sabotaged his shuttle. When Liam expressed his doubts about the validity of Sandoval's investigation, Lili shook her head. "No, I don't think he did it. I think his investigation is actually genuine. It's just not turning up anything."

"Is it possible that someone knows I'm Resistance?" Liam asked.

Lili frowned. "No, I don't think so. That would result in either blackmail or in you being turned over to the Taelons."

"That leaves Zo'or or some other Taelon, and if it were Zo'or, Sandoval would have done the dirty work."

Lili shook her head. "Sandoval doesn't know anything about shuttles."

"That doesn't mean he didn't hire it done," Liam pointed out. "It's not like he doesn't have the resources."

Lili sighed. "True enough. And he wouldn't have ordered me to do it because he knows I would have warned you or refused to do it outright. I suppose Zo'or could have just had someone else do it and not involved Sandoval at all."

Liam looked thoughtful. "I suppose." He yawned. "Sorry, Lili."

She rose and patted his shoulder. "It's all right, Liam. It's time I was getting back, anyway. I will think about some extra security that we can put in place on both of our shuttles to avoid any more unwanted trips."

The following morning, Lili had showed up with breakfast and Augur, who had put together a pair of small scanners that could be unobtrusively hooked into the control consoles of their shuttles, and which would beep their globals if any tampering occurred in the shuttles while they were away from them. "That should keep you here in Kansas, Toto," he said with a grin. "Though you'll have to bring the shuttles to me so that I can hook these babies in."

"We should be able to arrange something," Lili said, "maybe for this weekend." She headed out for work, and shortly after, Augur went through into the Flat Planet to do some work there.

Liam, left to his own devices, had a sudden thought and went to his computer. "Computer, access Volunteer records, authorization Kincaid, security code 50079. Find Volunteer Kelly, Shannon."

"There is no Volunteer by that name."

"Access Companion Protector records; did Lieutenant Siobhan Beckett have a cousin by that name?"

"Affirmative. Shannon Kelly born 1988 in Binghamton, New York."

"Where is she now?"

"Shannon Kelly is a member of the United States Air Force, stationed at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado."

"What does she do there?"

"She is a pilot, currently assigned to the deep space telemetry project."

Liam grinned in delight. "Way to go, Shannon," he murmured. "You got to be a pilot." 

He knew there was no way he could ever contact his cousin, but just knowing that she was out there, flying, was enough. Thinking of Shannon, of course, brought Siobhan to mind. He missed her. He missed her almost as much as he missed his own mother. It might even be possible that he missed her _more_ than he missed his mother because he had never until right at the end of her life been able to acknowledge his mother _as_ his mother.

And that was when he remembered the gifts and the remaining package.

He shut his computer down and retrieved the bags from where he had dropped them upon returning home. He unpacked the Kimera book and Siobhan's grandmother's runes, setting both reverently on the bar before him. He wished now that he had remembered the book earlier, this would have been the perfect time to read it. The larger box was wrapped in the same colorful paper that the other packages had been. He opened it slowly, carefully, giving the package the attention it deserved. It wasn't like he was going to be getting any more presents from Siobhan and Sandoval. The box was tall, with a lid that lifted off. Inside was a teddy bear and a folded sheet of paper. He lifted the bear out; it was very soft, with dark brown fur and bright black plastic eyes.

The note was written in a hand that he immediately recognized as his own, though a little less refined, as befitted the child who had written it. _Dear Major Liam,_ it said, _I am sending Sebastian home with you to keep an eye on you. He has always protected me ever since I was born, but I have a mama and a papa and you don't, so you need Sebastian more than I do. He will help you get home safe. Your friend, Liam._

Liam smiled and poked the bear gently in the stomach. "Are you the reason I got home all right, Sebastian? I hope you don't mind staying with me instead of _your_ Liam, and I appreciate whatever protection you can give me."

The bear didn't answer, but the plastic eyes seemed to gleam. Liam picked up the box and something inside slid across the bottom. Frowning, he tipped the box and a microdisk fell into his hand. Siobhan had said there was something more in the box. He reached across the bar for his global and slid the disk into place.

A recording started to play immediately. Siobhan and Sandoval sat side by side in their quarters under St. Michael's Church.

"Hello, Liam," Siobhan said. "Sandoval and I have been trying to come up with a gift for you to take home with you when you go; our Liam gave us the idea for what you're about to see. Family connections have always been important to us, and from what we learned from Ha'gel, they were also important to the Kimera. Know that had it been at all possible, he would have remained with you, and he would have insured that both of your human parents did as well."

Sandoval leaned forward slightly. "We want you to know that we will always consider you to be part of our family -- a son we might have had." He smiled faintly. "Our Liam would have loved to have had a brother had you been able to remain here with us."

"Take care, Liam," Siobhan said. "May the wind be always at your back."

The recording faded out, to be replaced by still photographs. There were dozens of them, and it took a few moments for Liam to understand that they were family photos. Siobhan's family. Sandoval's family. _His_ family. His eyes prickled as he looked at them all carefully, one by one, until he got to the end. And then he blinked, ejected the disk from his global and carried it and Liam Rory's note up to his bedroom. He pulled one of the bricks out of the bedroom wall to reveal a small space where he stashed things that needed to remain hidden: photos of his mother and father, his real birth certificate (signed by Dr. Park), a few other things. He added the note and the disk and carefully put the brick back into place. 

He was Liam Beckett-Sandoval. He was one-third Kimera and two-thirds human. He was a Companion Protector and member of the Resistance. And somewhere out there, infinitely far away, was a family who accepted him for who and what he was. It didn't matter that they were not, strictly speaking, _his_ family. What mattered was that they had accepted him as _theirs._

But he realized that he did have family here, too. Perhaps he could never acknowledge his father, but in Augur and Lili, he had older siblings to look out for him. He had not one, but two mother-figures in Melissa and Julianne, and he had Da'an, who acted as mentor and surrogate parent. He was not so alone as he sometimes thought.

And that was enough.


End file.
